It’s mother’s day once again.  It is time to honor, show appreciation, and

Happy Mother's Day

celebrate mothers.

Anyway, this year I wanted to do something different to honor my mom.  This year I will write about what I consider the heroic actions she has taken in being a mother to me, my brother, and sisters.  I’m sure everyone has a similar story, but this one is what makes my mother unique.

So here it goes…

When I was in my early childhood years, my mother took the role of the traditional mother who stayed home and took care of the kids.  She had the opportunity to go to college, but we came first on her priority list.  So instead of trying to complete the nursing program, she stayed home and took care of us.

During Christmas holidays my mother would see how we looked at other kids who had received toys as gifts.  I just knew that she felt bad seeing us this way.  Note that we were not well to do, and I would say we were on the lower end of the Philippine middle class.  That said, she still went out of her way to take us to a store to see what we wanted to get.  Of course, back then, I didn’t realize what financial hardships my parents were experiencing.

When I was around 7 or 8 years old, my Dad took a one year Telephone Engineering contract job in Vietnam.   That left my mother to take care of everything for a year.  That year came and went; and she handled us four kids with no problem.

When we went to the United States in 1974, we were again faced with a new challenge.  My father was having difficulties finding a job in the engineering field and was laid off from a job he had at Fairchild Semiconductor.  To help make ends meet, my mother looked for a job, and was able to land one in the semiconductor industry.  This showed she was willing to do anything to help keep us fed and clothed while my father continued his job search (which later landed him at Becthtel Corp.).

In 1975, my father’s work led us to Atlanta, GA.  There, with us kids older (by this time I was around 13 or 14 years old), my mother continued to help bring in income for the family.  She even worked at a nursing home!  Nursing homes aren’t the best place to work, yet she worked there to help the family.  My father was eventually able to get us back to California where we eventually were able to get a house.

Through her hard work and her support of my father, she was able to help move the family to a better financial condition, which later led to all the kids having the opportunity to go to college.

Here’s another thing I always remember of my Mother.  When coming home from school, she always makes sure to ask if we’ve eaten, and she would make something no matter how she felt or what she was doing.  She would always worry about us.

Thanks Mom for the sacrifice!  Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.