@jerry-d

@frdysk and @anemale.eth share some tough truth and it’s so true it hurts. I could be wrong here, but my guess is that some, maybe many, who still have both their parents, don’t realize how lucky they are. Only in death, do I fully realize how much my mom was and did and how much she gave to me and my siblings. It was literally all of herself. And when we thought we sucked it all out, bone dry, she had more, found more, to give. How callous, how unrelentingly self-absorbed I was / am. I think back and I’m disgusted at how many of my interactions with my mom were filled with vitriolic dismissiveness with anything she brought up as being important. Later in life, the vitriol seeped away, but the dismissiveness remained. Now, I visit her memorial at the cemetery. Say a prayer and tell her how it’s going with my family and my siblings and all of their families. I wish I had been a better son. I wish for a lot of things to have been different. She and my mom-in-law cared for my two children when they were literally weeks old. When my wife and I were forced to go back to work after maternity and paternity leave ended - both times, for both of my kids. They knew her as Lola (grandma in Tagalog - Filipino language). Even in her Last Will and Testament, she gave everything to her children. I have known a parent’s all-encompassing love, my wife and I both have and while we, mostly me, may take it for granted, we are the better for it. As much as I stubbornly remain a work in progress, I really am the better for it. And I will honor these gifts and pass them on to my loved ones. Love you mom. ❤️

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