A tribute to all mothers

NOTE: This year 2009 Mother's Day falls on May 10, Sunday.

In memory of my mother,Chia Meow Cheng.
By Ng Ai Boon, worships at Barker Road Methodist Church,
Singapore.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today, I remember my mother who loved my siblings and me so unconditionally that we miss her so much. She died in 2002 and for five years after her death, my father, siblings and I, and our families would visit her niche at the Garden of Remembrance on or near the date of her death anniversary.

However, we did not do it last year. When I think of my mother, I cannot picture her as ashes in a tiny urn in a niche in the crematorium. To me, she is larger than life and I see her in my everyday life. I can never forget my last glimpse of her in her apartment flat; it remains a perpetual memory in my mind.

Every year, I would buy my parents flowers for Chinese New year. This year, my dad is in a nursing home and he does not really appreciate flowers, so, I bought an orchid plant with a stalk of purple buds for myself, in remembrance of my mum. My mother loved her orchids.

Today, 9 of May 2009, that orchid plant is still blooming in the tiny balcony of my apartment flat. I see it every day and think of my mum. Happy Mother's day, dear mum, I love you and still miss you.

I have written a poem, and I wish to encourage all mothers to carry on loving their children despite the difficulty of their situations in family life. Nurturing children is never easy, neither is loving every single member of the family. Mothers means a lot to children and whatever they do for their children lives on forever in the hearts of these young people who will grow up to be mothers and fathers themselves.

The greatest gift is the gift of love. Wishing all mothers a Happy Mother's Day. God bless you.

From Ng Ai Boon.