In every family, there's a dad that stands strong like a pillar to keep the family guarded and safe, and there's a mother that acts like glue to keep the family together. Our family of four may be little, but we have both parents that does their best to give us the life we deserve full of love.
# A Story from Two Years Ago
It was my mom’s birthday, and my sister and I overslept. We hadn’t forgotten her birthday, but we hadn’t woken up early to greet her. We missed the chance to greet her in the early morning even though we could’ve done so; instead, we chose to sleep longer. As soon as I woke up, I hurried to find her, but she was already gone. I asked my father, and he told me she had left the house in anger without saying where she was going.
Before storming off, she had told him she was upset because my father had forgotten to greet her on her birthday, and neither my sister nor I had cared to wake up early. He’d been too absorbed in his work. My father had a lot of work that day and had been working since sunrise. My sister and I didn’t worry at first, mom usually returned within a few hours. My father and sister had even prepared a surprise celebration, with a cake and roasted chicken ready and waiting.
Still by early morning there was no sign of her. We tried calling and texting her but got no response. We reached out to her closest friends and heard nothing. We checked in with relatives just in case she had gone to her hometown but she was not there. For the first time our mom disappeared without notice. My father once confident she would show up any minute started to falter. He called my aunts and uncles my mom’s siblings and asked them to come over so we could surprise her when she returned.
By dinner time everyone had gathered but still no mom. Her siblings gently remarked that she probably felt lonely and unappreciated because my father had forgotten her birthday and had not said sorry. At exactly 6 p.m. she walked in. Her surprise at seeing her own mom and siblings quickly turned to tears. She explained how hurt she felt and that she had gone to church to pray, trying to release her disappointment and frustration. She was upset that everyone had treated her day like any other. She had only wanted us to greet her with love, but her expectations were shattered.
Then she told us where she had gone. She had traveled to Danao City, which was about two or three hours away. After going to church without any destination in mind, she rode a bus there. When the bus reached Danao, she got off and went straight into the mall. When they asked what she did there, she said she had gone shopping to make herself feel better. Everyone laughed and breathed a sigh of relief, everyone except me. I was still upset that she had left without saying a word.
Through the dinner I barely spoke to her. I retreated to my room. But once everyone left she quietly came in with a paper bag. She gave it to me. It was filled with clothes she had bought on sale for my father and me but nothing for herself. I burst into tears and told her she should have splurged on herself. Then I hugged her tight apologized for being angry and wished her a happy birthday.
# Why This Matters?
She’s the heartbeat of our home. My mother is the one who keeps the family together and keeps it alive. Without her, we’d be like a garden, but without its owner. It would be alive, yet uncontrolled and overgrown. That birthday marked the day she finally released all the pain she had been holding onto, it became both a breaking point and a turning point.
From that moment on we have taken her birthday twice as seriously. We realized how much we had come to take her for granted simply because she is always there quietly holding us together. This event taught us how deeply we depend on her love and presence and how important it is to show our gratitude especially on her special day. All we needed to do was to be more present in her life.
