What a mother’s love can do

You wouldn't believe if I tell you that we were supposed to be rich?

The problem was that I was a frail and feeble boy since birth. If I stayed under the sun even for a short period of time, I will have a headache. If I overplay and forget to wipe off my back-sweats, my brothers have to prepare themselves for another sleepless night of barking and howling from me. If I inhale dusts in any form, then you can be sure I will be gasping for air the next few hours while looking for my Ventolin medication. What do hepa-A, chickenpox, measles, collapsing due to over-exhaustion, typhoid fever, mumps, severe sun and skin rashes, dog bites, broken ear drum, milk allergies have in common? They all felt at home in my body at one time or another. This is just a short list. Yes indeed, I am a walking biological specimen for any viral and bacterial studies.

The often-repeated family joke then was that all our nearby barrio clinics have since become 3-floored hospitals mainly due to my philanthropic illnesses. Everybody will have a nice laugh out of it including me.

Everybody except one.
Our mother.

Because for every single pain I murmur and every single gasping I take, our mother felt them too. For all the inconvenient nights I spent over at the hospital, our mother was present too. For all the tears I shed in pain, our mother was crying too.I have physical miseries, she has untold agonies.

She suffered with me and she was my pain-absorber.

One instance I can remember clearly was being "isolated" from my brothers upon doctor's advice. I have jaundice caused by hepatitis-A . I have zero appetite and was feeling weaker by the day. Only my parents dare to go near my bed-corner and talk with me. And at night, after the lights were turned-off and while they thought that I was sleeping already, I can hear my mother crying to my father how she wishes that the illness be transferred to her so I can be spared from the pain and isolation.

They will lay their hands on my head and pray over me for healing.

Our father will try to get some sleep later while she stays and pray some more.So in my young mind, despite being bed-ridden and weakened by any illness, I was certain that everything will be just fine and I will be cured always - because I have my mother beside me all the time.

Without any doubt, God will never refuse the prayer of a grieving and faithful mother.
A mother's love is God's love personified and personalized for each one of us.

Happy Birthday to you, Mom.
We love you.