Writing from Do

The woman I admire

When I was born until now, there was a woman who I always admired and took the important position in my life is my mom. She was the most interesting and wonderful woman in this life.

My mom was born in a poor farming family in Nghe An province which has extremely harsh climatic conditions. She had to stop studying when she was eight, so she had no good education. My grandfather forced her to quit school. My grandparents had ten children and she was the oldest daughter, so she had to do many things to help family. One of the things she often told me that she wished she had the opportunity to go to school and finished junior high school. Therefore, she never allowed me to quit school to go to work. She wanted me to get a good education and to have a good life in the future.

She got married when she was eighteen. My dad was a boss of a factory in my hometown, but two years after marriage, my business was bankrupted. He became addicted to alcohol. He often destroyed things in the house when he was drunk. My mother was very distressed, but that thing could not make her fall. She was a strong and loving woman. She still loved my dad and spent time sharing and encouraging him. She had to try more to earn money to pay debts and take care of family. My mom’s love changed my dad. He became a good husband and restarted with a new job; a tailor. Repeatedly, my dad told this story to remind me to avoid hurting her.

When I was a little child, she loved me so much, but very strict. She did not allow me to go out to play with the other children in my village when I did not finish my homework. She forced me to cook, wash clothes, do housework when I was ten years old, she had never allowed me to work to earn money, although my family was not rich. My mom always told me to appreciate the little things in my life and to thank God for everything He gave me. She was a holy woman, so she always taught me how to pray, how to be with God. Therefore, I wanted to be a priest when I was a small child.

When I left home to go to HCMC, my mom did not say much, she only packed my things quietly and gave me a small paper with three words: “I Love You”. However, I was a stupid son, I had no feeling with it, I only wanted to leave home as soon as possible. So, I always regretted and blamed myself about what I did. Since I lived away from home, I was just aware of the great love of my mom. When I was sick, sad or tired, I only wanted her to be with me. When I was happy, she was the first person I remembered to. I believed that she was always beside me to share, to encourage, to help and to take care of me.

Although, now I am 23 years old, I have not done anything for her. I cannot spend many times to beside and take care of her, but in my heart, she is a wonderful mother in this world and the most important woman in my life. I am always proud of her. One more thing, I always desired in my deep heart that I could say in front of her: “Mom, I love you so much”, but I was shy and I did not dare to express my feeling to give thanks her. I only knew to pray and ask God bless and keep her.