Know Your Mother

Mother's Day was just yesterday -- probably the only holiday celebrated in China in just the same way as it is celebrated in the West: gifts, flowers, cards, dining out.

Being on the other side of the world, I called my mother to let her know I was thinking of her and that yes, it was Mother's Day in China, too. And then I read Thomas Friedman's column in the New York Times, "Call Your Mother". It really rung a bell with me.

Growing up is about a lot of things but something that seldom gets talked about is how, for better or for worse, so much about growing up is getting to know your mother. It is amazing how selfish we are as children in our belief that mother is just mother, nothing but mother, that her sole purpose and duty in life is to be mother, to mother, to care for us. I try to think back and recall just how long I had held this belief.

It is much later that one realizes, to one's distress, that mother is really just a girl who grew up. That someday I may be mother myself.

"Your mother had dreams too" says Friedman.

Reminiscent of a famous Brazilian song that goes:

"Voce culpa seus pais por tudo,
Isso e absurdo.
Sao criancas como voce,
O que voce vai ser quando voce crescer."

This translates to something like:

"You blame your parents for everything,
That's absurd.
They are children like yourself,
What you will be when you grow up."