I couldn’t help but miss the fact when I was younger, I was in the most need of nurture and care. However, as I got older — slowly catching new, darker nuances of life — I was often reminded of how my mother is still a daughter.Â
When the phone rings, regardless if it’s a spam call, a friend or for work, her footsteps thunder through the hallway to answer it because, for all she knows, it could be her mother or her mother-in-law. Her mother, who lives alone in a small apartment in Taipei, who walks fast the same way my mom does, who waves her hands around when something makes her nervous. Her mother-in-law, who lives alone in a Los Angeles home too big for one person, whose leg pain prevents her from taking on as many of the grand adventures she used to tell me about, who has leaky shower issues and ant trails that she doesn’t know how to fix.
My mother’s urgency is sometimes kind of laughable, especially when her kitchen apron billows behind her like a superhero cape or her hair is still wet from rushing out of the shower. Even so, I watch her from my bedroom, a chair at the dining table, or the couch, feeling moved every time it happens.
Sometimes, my grandmas’ phone calls last for hours. Sometimes, they only last for a minute. Every time, my mom picks up within seconds.Â
But beyond being an incredible daughter, my mom is an even more incredible mother. In fact, she makes me realize all the things I want to do for my kids that she has done for me.
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I want to volunteer for school holiday parties, bake cool treats for playdates, and make a bouquet for every show, ceremony or celebration my kid is in, regardless of how significant. We have three bouquets in our home right now. Fuchsia peonies for my dance studio’s showcase. A mix of light pink dahlias and baby’s breath for my school’s senior awards night. Gradient red roses for my graduation.
As I look toward college, I’m reminded of the fact I’ll be forever indebted to my parents. I can work toward doing all the things they hoped for me to do, like securing that competitive internship and doing well in my classes, and dream about being able to pay them back one day, but there is no payment that will ever be sufficient. I sometimes think that what I will give in return is being an amazing mother too, being able to provide for my future family the same way my parents did. But it’s all so broad. It’s all too grand.Â
For now, as I imagine a home that’s a small dorm, that will not have flower bouquets or my mom bustling around, I know that when the phone rings, I will run to pick it up, the same way my mom does for her mother, the same way she does for her mother-in-law, and of course, the same way she does for me.
Naomi Hsu is a recent graduate of Carlmont High School in Belmont. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
Thank you Naomi for this lovely column and a reminder, for me, of what it used to feel like to get a call from any of our parents, all of whom we've now lost and miss.
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Thank you Naomi for this lovely column and a reminder, for me, of what it used to feel like to get a call from any of our parents, all of whom we've now lost and miss.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.