Dear Mom,

My 2 years of being a mom to Tash brought me back to your decades of motherhood. Somewhere in my sleepless nights and other mommy challenges, I remember a young version of you going through the exact same things I’m now going through. I saw you patiently wait for me to pee on the potty. I saw you trying hard to feed me as I was a terrible picky eater. I saw how you calmly took care of me whenever I got sick. I saw how you managed time giving your best in your career while giving your all as a loving mom and wife.

Watching how you gracefully did things made motherhood look so easy and stress-free. In my eyes, you’re the Super Mom who had everything I needed and had all the solutions to my little problems. It was like nothing could go wrong when you were around.

Motherhood looked so easy….until the day I became a Mom. In the middle of pregnancy and childbirth pains, breastfeeding aches, toddler tantrums, working mom challenges, household chores and many more, I must admit I feel tired, restless and incapable. Certainly, adulting is hard. Yes even at 32, I sometimes wish that when things go wrong, I can just cry and run to you and you’ll hug and carry me just like you used to when I was in pain as a little girl.

But though you can’t carry me anymore when I feel bad, I’m thankful you prepared me to face life’s challenges positively. I remember when I was 8 years old, I woke up to a hand written note that said “Do your best and God will do the rest.” I was about to take my quarterly exams that day and you had to leave early in the morning for your corporate trip so you left a random sweet message by my bed, a sweet message that stayed in my heart and mind forever.

“Do your best and God will do the rest.” Your message guided me not only in that quarterly test in school but even more in life. It has been my source of strength and solace in every challenging day of adulthood. It has been my motto as a young parent trying to get by one day at a time.

Now I’m beginning to understand how you made motherhood look so easy and stress free. It’s not because you didn’t experience the pains, the hardships and challenges of motherhood. It’s not because you were a superwoman who had extraordinary powers. You were an ordinary mother who experienced the pains, the aches, and challenges of a mom just like me. Yet out of great love for your family, you did your best to be the best for all of us. And your faith helped you gracefully surrender to the Lord the things that your “best” could no longer handle.

Thank you for your wisdom, Mom. It’s a gift I’ll forever cherish. Thank you for being the best mom to me and my brothers, the best wife to Dad and the best Amma to Tash and her cousins.

I love you! ❤️

Gwen