‘“All that I am. Or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” – Abraham Lincoln

Truer words have never been spoken. Where would we be without our mothers?

As my gorgeous, intelligent, strong-willed mother turns a year older today, I’m filled with so much gratitude for the blessing that she is.

Always full of love and compassion. Always helping anyone in need. I think when it comes to parents, I struck gold.

My parents have always shown me how to put the needs of others first, as they selflessly went out of their way to help friends and family.

Compared to them, I feel ridiculously selfish. But, I hope I’ll get there, in time.

In school, my mom would help me draw my biology diagrams because my drawing skills were so terrible. They still are.

I inherited that from Dad. He always said that all he could draw was a sun with a stick figure tree. So you can imagine how I struggled with diagrams in medical college when I was all alone in Goa 🙈

I remember once I’d missed school because I was sick, and was too tired to copy from a friend’s notebook, so Mom wrote the work using her left hand, because when she used her left hand, it looked like my normal handwriting.

Such crazy skills, I tell you. I’m still practicing brushing my teeth with my left hand(and,failing) for surgical ambidexterity.

My mother continues to be good and kind to people who aren’t really nice at all. We all tell her to stop and give up, but she continues to believe in the goodness of people.

I read a quote that said that mothers don’t really ever sleep, they just worry with their eyes closed 😂

So is the same with mine. She worries that I won’t adjust to the hostel, that I’m not eating well, or that I’m not getting enough sleep.

I used to tease her saying that she always looks for new things to worry about, but I realise that it’s because Mothers want the best for their families, even if that means sacrificing their own comfort.

Once very unhelpfully she let me sleep for an extra hour in the morning when I’d specifically asked to be woken up at 5 am to study frantically before a test. Needless to say, I was very annoyed. But that’s just what a mother’s love is. It is relentless, and in hindsight, I think that extra hour of sleep probably did me well.

Of course, we fight and we don’t ALWAYS get along. But, I think that’s how it is between Mothers and Daughters. We fight but make up instantly and bond over a common love for coffee and cinnamon oatmeal cookies.

I’m so lucky to have such a brilliant, kind and wonderful mother who taught me to love God and the importance of prayer. A true inspiration and role model. Words can never express the actual gratitude I have, and the gratitude that she deserves.

But every single day, I am grateful for her and beyond blessed to be her daughter.

I’d decided to write a post, but I now realise if I continue, it might just turn into a book and I still wouldn’t be done talking about her 😊

To the kindest soul, the best cook, the funniest story-teller, the most chic dresser, and the best woman I know.

Happy birthday, Mom. Thank you for ALWAYS being there and for being you. If it wasn’t for YOU, I’d never be ME. ❤️