Our Hideaway

Mother and Daughter

By Therese Diane N. Germinanda

Therese as a child with her mother, Lyn

For nine months, she bore the pain but still smiled
Her happiness was visible the day I came into her life
She is sweet, very thoughtful and caring too
Whenever I’m sad she knows what to do.

I am blessed to have her around
She picks me up always whenever I’m down
She is the light of our home and my life
I love my mother until the day I die

She taught me things I never learned in school
Patience’, she said, Patience is a virtue
She taught me how to behave and be polite
She also taught me how to read and write

We may have had fights and misunderstandings
But I know she is the only one who can understand my feelings
At the end of the day she’s the only one I can run to
The arms that will comfort me and words spoken, ‘I love you’.

I miss her now as I write this down
But a million miles away will never make me frown
For I hold her close and dear to my heart
It’s me and her against the world right from the very start

And, through this, I remember our own virgin mother Mary;
Who has always been gentle and silent yet contented and happy
To cradle in her arms her only Son, Jesus Christ;
And watch him grow all the days of her life.

Mary, who has never spoken a word of argument or complaint
Took the challenge and proudly claimed
To be the mother of our Messiah
Despite the impeccable dangers.

And, because of this, I clearly saw
That being a mother was never a joke
The sleepless nights and the endless days
The struggles and the pain.

And, just like Mary, my mother always found the strength
Chin held up high with all the love in her heart that has no end
Mary, like all mothers in the world, loves with a love that is unconditional
And I, too, love her and my mother with a love that is eternal.