Between a mother and a daughter, translated…
Every week, I’d set a date aside, to visit home, other than taking my mother who lived by herself to shop for her necessities for the coming we, then, the two of us would go someplace, and hold conversations about anything from what’s going on at home, to news and international news, then, we’d share a lunch or an afternoon tea session, as a happy ending.
A short while ago, my husband fell ill, and, although his scheduled check-up day was on a Tuesday, meshed into the day I was supposed to visit my mother, I’d still gone to my mother’s place early in the morning on the day.
As I walked in, I’d told mom about what I have going on today, “I need to rush home to take my husband to the hospital at ten today, and we can only shop for the groceries, and not hang out afterwards.”
Mom worried, and asked me if it would be rushing a bit, that my husband may not make his health check on time? Although I’d already found out the time, I’d still played with my mom, “then, I won’t take you out today?” and, out of my expectations, she’d replied in an instant, “fine then, I’ll just, shop around the local marketplaces today!”
I knew that my mother loved the cramped, the crowded traditional marketplace for her shopping, and not the supermarkets or wholesales marts; and she’d not enjoyed the high-end dining experiences, but the roadside food stands. But, because of my parking issues and my habits of shopping, every week, she’d let me take the lead, on where to take her to shop, and agreed to my taking her to places with available parking slots, and be happy that wherever I took her, that, was where she’ll want to go.
illustration from the papers…
My mother’s reactions surprised me, I thought that my words would have a disappointing effect on her! Later, I’d taken mom to the markets first, let her off, and reminded her, “Don’t buy too much, you won’t be able to carry it all.” “Remember, to have the umbrella to keep the UV rays away, so you won’t get a heatstroke!” “Do watch your purse, there are a lot of pickpockets at the marketplaces!” my mother shrugged me off, “Fine, fine, I know it already!” her look of can’t wait to shop on her own was like a kid in the elementary years, looking forward to her first fieldtrip.
I kept believing, that I was, giving back to my mother by coming home to her every week, to take her out to ease her boredom; but in actuality, it was her, who became, my company! And finally, she gets to have a day “off” this week, no wonder she’s so ecstatic about it.
On my drive home, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, over how I’d discovered, how I was not the one who went to accompany my mother, but the other way around.
So, this daughter thought shew as doing her mother a favor, but in actuality, her mother was doing her the favor, and, maybe, her heart was in the right place, taking her mother shopping at the supermarkets for the groceries, taking her out for afternoon teas, so they can spend the day together, but, she’d finally realized, that her mother WAS the one, accompanying her, not the other way around.
spending the day together, the two of us…not my photo…
Life, the Obstacle Course 