My mom is beautiful, inside and out. She has this natural beauty that glows even when she doesn’t have time to do her hair or color her brows because she’s busy helping us with our homeworks and preparing our gourmet lunch packs.

After more than a year since I got married, I was able to stay with my parents again while I was on maternity leave. My husband and I thought it wise to stay there so that I have company while he’s out to work. We were very grateful for both of them, but since Mother’s Day is coming up, I’m writing this post as I look back on the so many years (my whole life at that!) my mom has done so much (an understatement) for me and my siblings.

Moms love their children so much that they are willing to give up their lives for their children. Carrying a baby to delivery, for one, already has big sacrifices that moms would deem insignificant when compared to the life that’s on the way. And it doesn’t end after delivery, and not even after the sleepless nights feeding the baby are over. Day in and day out, there are yet many sacrifices moms have to make for their children, year after year. It never ends. And sometimes, these sacrifices are at the expense of our moms taking care of themselves.

My mom is beautiful, inside and out. She has this natural beauty that glows even when she doesn’t have time to do her hair or color her brows because she’s busy helping us with our homeworks and preparing our gourmet lunch packs.

Aside from this glow and the fact that she looks like a younger sister of Gloria Diaz, here are some of the other reasons I find my mom beautiful:

Her Hands

My mom used to have really nice hands. But because of years of daily chores, she now has carpal tunnel and the joints of her fingers lock on their own. There’s even one or two that she can no longer “unlock”. The doctor said that the only way to alleviate the condition is to rest her hands. Meaning, for the most part, no cooking and no cleaning. But daily she chooses to endure the pain and cook hearty dishes at least three times a day. She chooses to clean up on our mess because our rooms and bathrooms won’t get cleaned on their own. No matter how much we cook or clean up on our own now that we’re older, we can never bring back her model-ish hands. But no matter how they look, her hands tell the story of life sacrifice, and that will always be an unfading beauty.

Her Lips

My mom is not a nagger. But even if she were, deep down inside I would always know that regardless of how the words and tone come out, it’s all from her genuine desire for what’s best for us. From those days when we would get irritated with her voice for waking us up countless times in one morning just so that we won’t be late for school, to the times she would share her thoughts about our decisions or give unsolicited (but apparently needed) advice, all of those were outpours of a mother’s love.

Her Eyes

We all need six to eight hours of sleep every night. I realize that my mom has spent so many nights without sleep to feed me when I was still a baby, and that she did the same for my two siblings. There were also countless nights she couldn’t sleep out of worry because I didn’t tell her where I went or what time I’ll be home, and even in the times I did, she would still be up and will only be able to shut her eyes to sleep after she sees that I’m safely back home. There were also a lot of nights she would wait to fetch me from dance training and dinner after with dance-mates, while she had dinner on her own. The next morning she would wake up so early to prepare breakfast and take me to my early morning class. Beyond these, I also know there were countless times she shed tears for when I made poor decisions, and when she’d see through my strong personality and feel my broken heart.

Her Heart

She has a congenital heart condition. The doctor said she shouldn’t be stressed. But she chooses to pour out unconditional love to us, who at one or many points in time have thrown at her heart-stabbing words and have made her nervous or anxious with a lot of things. For loving us regardless, for that unconditional and stubborn love she has lavished on us our whole lives whether she gets anything in return or not, for not holding back despite her heart condition, for that love that has never ran out, her heart is the strongest and the most beautiful beyond measure.

She is beautiful and I definitely love her!