Happy Mother's Day... A Thought Provoking Story!

Daughter-In-Law: When I cooked food which is blend, you will grumble that
they are tasteless. Now that I have cooked saltier, you complained that you
can't swallow this at all! What exactly do you want?

When the son came back, the mother immediately ate the food without a word.
She stared at him.

The son took a taste on his mother's food and spitted out immediately.

He ranted at his wife,"Didn't I tell you that my mother cannot take too
salty food!?"

The wife shouted, "OK! She's your mum! You cook for her in future!" After
saying that, she stormed into their room angrily.

Feeling helpless, the son told the mother, "Mum, don't eat this anymore. I
will cook you a bowl of noodles."

The mother said, "Son, you have something to tell me? Don't keep everything
to yourself."

Son said, "Mum, I am going to get promoted soon and my upcoming working
schedule will be very, very tight...and as for my wife...she said she will
be going out to work...."

The mother understood what he meant and said in a begging manner, "Son,
please don't send me to the Old Folks' Home...."

The son remained silent and tried to think of a good reason to persuade her
mother.

Then he said, "There is nothing wrong with the Old Folks' Home. Once my
wife went out to work, no one will serve you as well as the Home which
provides you meals and care. It would definitely be much
better than being at home."

The son went for a bath after that and went into the study room. He looked
out from the windows and thought back and hesitated a while....

His mother has remained a widow since she was young and brought him up
painstakingly, solely.

She tried all means to earn as much as she could, in order to support his
oversea studies. Yet she expected nothing nor used her past painful
experience to threaten his son to be filial.

Now, his wife is threatening him with the stake of their marriage.

"Should I send my Mum to the Home?" He asked himself.

"The only person who will accompany you till the end of your life would be
your wife." said a friend before.

"Your mother is old now and if she's lucky, she might be able to live for a
few more years longer. Why not be filial to her for this period of time?"
reminded some relatives.

He was stuck in a dilemma. He did not want to think anymore.

The son found a Home with high standards, built on a beautiful and
transquil mountain top. He told himself that he would feel much better the
more he spent.

When the son helped his mother into the lobby of the Home, the 42" TV was
turned on. The programme shown on screen was a comedy. But no one was
laughing.

A few old folks, dressed similarly in clothing, were sitting there, in a
daze. There was one who was sitting improperly on a sofa, another was
bending down to pick up a piece of biscuit from the floor
and another was talking to himself.

The son knew that his mother liked sunlight, so he chose a room with ample
sun rays shining into the room. From the window, he could see space and
greenery. A few nurses were wheeling some old
folks out for some fresh air.

It was a pathetic silence in the background. The sun was setting down.Soon
it will be dusk.

The son told the mother, "Mum, I am leaving."
The mother waved to him to say good-bye, opening her toothless mouth.

He turned back to look at his mother. She was full of grey hair and
wrinkled skin with deep set eyes.He found that she was really old.

He remembered when he was six, due to some circumstances, his mother wanted
to temporarily place him at a relative's home for few days. He recalled
hugging his mother's thigh and begged her not to leave him. In the end, his
mother never left him.

He stopped thinking and left.

When he returned home, his wife and his mother-in-law were busy discarding
things from his mother's room, happily.

One of the discarded items was his tall trophy which he won as first prize
when he was young. He wrote an essay on "MY MOTHER".

The second item was a dictionary. That was the first gift from his mother,
who scrimped and saved for a month in order to buy it for him.

He shouted, "Enough! Stop discarding anymore!"

His mother-in-law cried, "There is so much rubbish. If I don't discard
them, there would not be any place for my stuff!"

His wife continued, "Yeah! Need to dump away that old stinky bed too. We
will buy a new bed for my mum later."

He saw some pictures from the stack......they were taken at a zoo and
amusement park.

"These are precious belongings of my Mum! You can't discard them!" he said.

"What sort of attitude is this? I demand you to apologise to my Mum NOW!"
ranted the wife.

The husband said, "When I got married to you, I promised that I will love
your Mum too. Why can't you do the same?"

He went back to the Home and saw his mother weeping in between her frail
legs. She was missing the moments when her son would apply ointment for her
every night.

The son kneeled before her and said, "Mum, here I am. I brought the
ointment too."

The mother said, "I will apply it myself. Son, you need to work tomorrow.
Go home."

Son said, "Mum, please forgive me. Let's go home."


The above story was sent to me by my colleague, Vanessa Yong. I sincerely
hope this is inspirational and touching enough for everyone to treat
our parents well. Without our parents, we won't be here. No parents will
harm their own children. They only want the best for them. Someone said, "A
father can raise up 5 children singlehandedly; but sometimes 5 children cannot
even support a father!

For Daughters & Sons: Please remember to return gratitude to your dads and
mums.

For Daughter-In-Laws & Sons-In-Laws: Please love your in-laws as you do
your parents, coz without them, you will not find your partners...they are
parents too. Just think... if you love your in-laws, your spouse will grow to
love you even more because he/she can see you as a beautiful peson. Love begets love; peace begets peace. What goes around comes around. It is also easier to love someone than hate someome, because when we harbour grudges or anger, it does not promote good health. Above all, it also prevents blessings from being rained down from above.

Wishing all my dear friends who are mothers a Happy and Blessed Mother's Day.

Gan Chau