Motherhood

Dr. Jane Pan

Someone had once said that a baby is the mother's anchor. Young woman instantly became mature adult when she stayed up all night beside her baby's cradle watching carefully making sure her precious one is asleep.

I remembered a story I heard when I was a little girl. In the late 40's during the upheavals of Chinese' civil war a young beautiful woman was separated from her husband in a military ship full of soldiers. She concentrated on nothing else except the well-being of her baby daughter whom she cradled close and tight in her bosom. She didn't fear the long trip, no food to eat, no comfortable bed to sleep in, or anyone trying to harm her. She with her baby just huddled in one corner of the ship deck. All through the rough sea traveling with a bunch of disillusioned and tired men from loosing the war, she was exhausted. But hunger and exhaustion didn't overcome her love and care for her child. As I grew older, I began to understand this was my mother's story and how she demonstrated her love to me. You see, she was 19 then, and being Japanese married to a Chinese didn't improve her chances for survival during those harsh times. Her powerful motherly instinct overcame any notion of fear. Today if anyone asks me what she did as a profession, I would answer them, "She's a mother first, and she has three successful daughters."

A Spanish saying about motherhood is this: "There is no mother like the mother that bore me." My mother is now in her late 70's. I always look at her as the courageous young woman, still beautiful, who illustrated the depths of a mother's love.

May 14 is Mother's Day. Are you thinking of your mother? Tell her you love and appreciate her. Even though she may not be perfect (nobody is by the way) she is your mother, the only one that bore you.

We love you mothers. Happy Mothers' Day!