To Be Like My Mother
／Susan Shen
I believe that nine out of ten people will say that they have the greatest mother. I too, would be included in those nine. However, I would also say that I have the greatest mother not only for what she had done for her family, but also for others outside her family.
As a wife and a mother, there is no doubt that she has given the best of her for her family. Five years after their marriage, my father received a scholarship which enabled him to study in USA. However, that scholarship was only for his tuition fee and he didn't have enough money to bring his wife and two daughters with him. So, for the next two years my mother had to bring up two young children and also took over my father's duty as a church minister. I think most women would not accept to be left by herself and having such a great responsibility. In their parting too, she didn't burden my father with tearful farewell, not because she didn't feel sad (as she later told him in a letter), but because she didn't want to make it harder for him to depart. Such is the courage she taught us as we grew older, not by words but by example.
As a minister's wife, she also cared for those outside her immediate family circle. Not superficially, but sincerely. Recently, a church member called and expressed her anxiety for her brother. She told us that the house next door to her brother's shop was on fire. Most people would say some words of comforts or encouragement, some would offer support in prayer, only a few would actually pray. After my mother got off the phone, she went into her room and stayed there to pray. For the next hour or so, she alternately pray and seek information about the fire, and didn't shop praying until she received words that the fire was out and the shop was saved.
All these qualities of my mother I have always knew, but it was only recently that I understood the strength that enable her to have such qualities was her close relationship to God. Because of her examples, now I also seek to be closer to God, everyday, so that one day, I too will be like my mother.
