Lady Love

In the early 80s in Tokyo. My mom's the lady who looks like me (hahaha). The lady in red.
My Tito Mike's the one w/ the cigarette, my grandmother and my Tita Anne's the one in a striped sweater
That chic guy w/ glasses, I don't know, but my mom knows him.

I'm going to make this short, straight-to-the-point and sweet.

Today is Mother's Day and for this household, it's a big thing. I practically have lived life knowing just a mother and having only the slightest idea of a father thanks to my stylish Lolo, my Tito Ed and some other people. But with my real dad, well, it's a complicated case. 

Anyway, growing up with a lot of mothers (that includes my Grandmother and my Tita Sharon) has its effects. For people who know me well, they know what they are. They're not always the best kinds of effects, but the best kinds are worth passing on to others. What I've learned from my mom in the 21 years of life God has given the two of us one could never summarize in a sentence. If I had to, it'd probably be this: The most important things I could learn about love, I learned from her. 

She's taught me the highest kind of love there is and hopefully will one day be able to give it to more than one person. She's also taught me about responsibility and (surprisingly) how to be a man---which includes having the balls to owe up to my mistakes, being responsible for your actions, apologizing, knowing your boundaries, etc. She's become my image of strength, that when a woman is thrown out to sea by her man, to drive lives to safe shores, she'll definitely deliver, if not surpass the mightiest of men. She's introduced me to my life-long philosophy of "Simple and Elegant" (which applies to all facets of life). She's provided us the best possible everything she could provide and it'll melt your heart to know that if she had more to give, she'd never blink or waste a second for us. 

And just like all mothers and sons and mothers and daughters, we've had our rough patches. We get on each other's nerves a lot, but it'll only last for minutes. After all, we pretty much are like best friends. 

So today, I honor her for being an example of love unconditional. She has proven that what they write about on greeting cards, portray on movies, write on novels, sing in music and paint on art could actually exist. For me, the most cliche of sayings, that "My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world" is beyond cliche, cause it's true. Besides, she has taught me---one of my favorite lessons, that beauty is definitely not just the pleasing or the appealing, but the suffering, the victories that only come after, the hardships and the resilience of the human soul.

To the strongest, most sungit, incredibly generous, successful, loving and beautiful mother on my planet, I love you so much and you know that for every triumph and standing-up I've had and will have, you're to blame (hahaha).

Happy Mother's Day Menchu! Hahahah. Alam mo yan!

- Gerard