Since today is Mother's Day, I think it is worth to write a short article about my mother. She was born in Jakarta May 20th, 1963. She is the third child in the family out of six. She was grown up in a loving family, even tough my grandfather is a really strong character. Her family is not the wealthiest family that time, unlike my father's. She went to some hard time too. I remember that she and her sisters really wanted to take an English course but since that time my grandparents were not financially fulfilled. This was also her reason to always send me to the best English course in the city, because it was her dream to learn English.
Her family really concerned about education, and so did she. She was always be on the first rank until high school. She really encouraged me to achieve what she achieved when she was younger. And I did. I was always on the top three, big five or top ten until junior high. She is really studious. She was graduated with
Cumlaude for her undergrad Bachelor from IPB and for her Master from University of Indonesia. I was studying in school when she graduated for her Master. I did not attend her graduation.
Sometimes, she is even more studious than I am. She pushed me to take so many tutorials after school: Math, Physics, Chemistry (it was also because I am bad in Science). She was committed to drop and pick me up many days when she was not working. When she was working for some month, she hired a driver to make sure that we still went to our courses. Can you imagine waiting in the car for two hours with the air con off (she is really efficient)? She wanted the best for me and my brother: education, tutorials, technology, food, everything.
High school was different for me and for her. For her, it was when she met my dad. She went to SMAN 8 Bukit Duri. I know she was pretty famous that time because she always led the choir in her school. But she did not encourage me to go to SMAN 8 and I did not desire to go to the same high school like my parents. She wanted me to enroll in the best school in Jakarta, SMA Santa Ursula. It was actually her dream to study there. But since it was a private school, the tuition was so high - even in the 80s. My grandparents had to send all his 6 children to public school. She was really proud when I made it to Santa Ursula. And she was still always committed to make me successful there.
She was the alarm every morning. She started to soar five in the morning to make sure that I was awake. She coordinated the cooks to provide healthy meals for my breakfast and lunch. She still also showed her commitment by dropping and picking me up to my tutorial courses after school.
When I was in high school, it was the time when I had fight almost every week with my mom. In the car, in the house, almost everywhere. Sometimes the argument was so insignificant, for me. But it is a big deal for her, for the best of me, because she loves me, she cares.
There were sometimes I did not talk to her in the car just because I was so mad. Now I realised that it was so rude and disrespectful. My mom did not deserve to be treated like that. At the end she always forgive me. She always opens her door for me.
Five years ago, after my grandpa from my father passed away, my grandma has to live by herself. Worse, my grandma got a stroke and breast cancer. My mother knew that she needs someone to take care of her. My mother was the one who suggested to our family to live with our grandmother so that there is someone who takes care of her. Moving out mean sacrifices too. She had to sacrifice her career, her time, her privilege to provide the best health need for her mother-in-law. Imagine, her mother-in-law, not her birth mother. My mother is sick too. She has psoriasis. Her skins becomes so red when she is stressed . And so far there has been no medicine to cure it. The best prevention is not to be stress. It's like sick person takes care a sick person.
I can even say, she treats her mother-in-law more intensely that she treats her birth mother. I don't even know sometimes where the rest of my father's siblings are. I mean it is so strange that my mother is the person who is 24/7 there for my grandma. She is a real definition of a devoted daughter.
The result was her business was in a mess. Her company went bankrupt.
But she took it as a learning point. She believed that something greater will come after. She believes that one of the important things to do in life is to make her parents happy, to treat older people with a great care, to make her kids happy. Sometime she even sacrificed herself not to buy new clothes, shoes or bags, just for the sake of us and our grandmother.
My mother believes in miracle. She believes coming to UWC was a bless that God gifted our family. She never dreamed of sending me to study abroad for my undergraduate school. She just thought that time I would go to University of Indonesia to study Law or Communication, or maybe in Singapore, if I could get a good scholarship.
I never knew until my first year in UWC that she was really stressed when she found out I got accepted in UWC. I never thought about that before because she looked just perfectly excited as I was. She was always with me during the preparation.
She told me when I told her that "Mom, I got accepted in UWC in Italy" her stomach was in pain, the acid went all over her blood. She was actually really sad, stressed and anxious that I had to leave her in a very young age, 17 years old.
But know she is so proud that I graduated from UWC and made it to Wartburg, because she was actually really stressed that I was wait listed in so many US' top colleges. She thought I would not make it to US. She prayed everyday, did devotions for me, for my future.
Here I am in the USA know. It's all because of the hardship of my mother; her disciplines, her constructive critiques, her thoughts, her prayers, her LOVE.
I haven't talked to my mother for three days since she lost her phone in Paris three days ago. I am so happy that she made it to Europe. It is actually her first time to make it outside Asia. And it's a jackpot: Europe. Even tough her trip was not so smooth with the camera, cell-phone, and all. I really miss her. I can't wait for her to be back in Jakarta because I really want to talk to her like crazy. At this point I can say I miss her. I can't believe that my tear dropped as I was writing this post.
By the way I made this
video before I cried right now for my mom. I sang her "Mother How Are you Today" ! It's my Mother's Day present for her.
My mom is an inspiration for me. She is a very care-loving-and-responsible mother for our family. She is definitely a figure. She is a very loyal, generous and supportive mother, wife and friend.
I love my mother so much. You know I love her, and my love cannot be expressed by more words in this post.
Happy Mother's Day, Mama!
Kiss and Love,
Rut
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| My beautiful Mother |
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| Christmas 2010 at my grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary Party |
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| Summer 2010 |
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| Summer 2011 |
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| I am the one on my mom lapse. |
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| Nanny Ira, Mom, Nanny Sumiyem and Me in that white hoodie. |
