May 13, 2007

Happy Mother's Day

By P.B. Masdal |

Posted In : Personal and Family

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers in the world and I want to especially greet my wife Evelyn for being such a wonderful mother to our kids and you could say, me and the children could not ask for anything more. With the chicken barbecues she got with that special secret spices, there’d always be smiles and laughters in our home.

Of course, my greetings also goes to my Mom Darwisa who becomes stronger as each day comes (and goes), after my father had passed last year and remains a strength behind me and to all her children. To my mother-in-law Nanay who at 89 is the strongest mom that my wife could ever had, and probably the best she could ever have.

To my sister Rimaisa who had a grand wedding last January and would soon be a mom in the coming months (we hope) and to my cousins Rose and Fharrah who are great mothers to their kids also, as well as to their mom Auntie Nene, who is always there for her children.

To my aunt Naifiesa who remains a guiding light to her husband who is now running for mayor in our hometown down south in Tawi-Tawi. I hope she could be the driving and winning force this coming Monday and win it all.

To our helper and good neighbor Manang Mercy, who cooked the best so far among all helpers we ever had. And to our good neighbor Auntie Rose who has two beauteous and wonderful daughters.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of them.

Of course, I would not dare forget to greet all the wonderful moms online like Bing, Toe, Ipanema, Bambit, Teacher Sol, Ayesha, Nicehaert, Nao, Liza, Ms. Luchie, Ladybug, Ms. B., Evi, BokBok, Rhodora, and Jayred.

I hope I am not forgetting anyone. Happy Mother’s Day na rin to the wonderful single girls like Atticus,Curacha, Verns and Daphne.

What would this world be without the good mothers we all had? And how could we men imagine a world without the women in our lives.

It must be unthinkable.

I remember that in my college days in Ateneo de Zamboanga, I once had joined this exteporanoues speaking contest with the the subject of women as the main discussion point. I remember that when in the first stages of my speech, the crowd roared in approval and I had gotten the most rambuncticous audience response for my startling exposition of how women deserves to have equal rights as that with men. I forgot how exactly I had spoken in that speech, or the words I had uttered but the crowd did applauded me so well that even my English subject moderator was so up in toe watching me from the back of the hall.

But what I forgot to remember is that there is a major rule in that speech contest, where there was a time limit for every contestant and I was a bit unkindly to have wanted to go on and on with my dialogue and had wanted to tell the crowd about the story of Joan of Arc, about how she was merely a young women who had pretended to be a male indivdual, to lead the French soldiers towards a deafening victory against the invading English marauders.

When I started saying “Let me tell you a story….”, the bell suddenly rang and I was startled and so surprised that I could not believe my ears that very moment and the crowd went “aahhhhhh’, like they were very disappointed too. And I was there standing so shaken and couldn’t move, like a frozen cavemen, suddenly realizing that I had just disqualified myself. So I lost that contest.

But I think, I should have gone on telling the Joan of Arc story despite that I knew already then that there was no more possibility for me of winning.

The story of Joan of Arc is just too good and I believe in the story so well.

23 Comments »

1. snglguy says; May 13, 2007 @ 11:44 pm

   Happy Mother’s Day to your Mom, Tom. Oh and BTW, Toe isn’t a Mom yet.

2. ladybug says; May 13, 2007 @ 11:57 pm

   I read your post just now. Tamang tama, nakahabol pa yata ako. First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to your wife and your mom. Thank you for including me in your list, even though my son is in heaven right now. I am so touched. I thought nakalimutan na ako ng mga tao.

3. eric says; May 14, 2007 @ 10:25 am

   I bet Mother’s Day was a wonderful, fun-filled in your house, Major Tom.

   They should have let you go on with your story!

4. Toe says; May 14, 2007 @ 4:17 pm

   Haha… yeah, Sngl is right.. I’m not a Mom yet… unless you consider my bulutong to be my children. Oh, you must have been in your zone during your speech Major Tom, that’s why you forgot about the time. But how amazing and wonderful it must be to enrapture the audience with your talk. I also love the story of Joan of Arc.

5. ipanema says; May 14, 2007 @ 5:47 pm

   Thank you, major tom.

6. Daphne says; May 14, 2007 @ 7:03 pm

   Maybe you can blog about the story of Joan of Arc, some day.

   Thanks for mentioning me in the mother’s day greetings even though motherhood isn’t really part of my future plans. Hehe

7. vic says; May 14, 2007 @ 8:31 pm

   happy mother’s day to all moms and to yours major tom. got a nice pictures from my niece for their second year of mother’s day celebration in San Jose, California. and they even dropped a line on my blogsite.

8. Major Tom says; May 15, 2007 @ 9:43 am

   To sngl: oops, I didn’t know that or I think I know that but just forgot. Anyway, thanks for the greetings; Happy Mother’s Day too to your Mom.

   To Toe: Despite of that, I am sure you’d be a great mom in the coming years..

   You know, before the speech I was so wrecked with anticipation that I drank one bottle of beer in a nearby saloon; that’s why perhaps I was a little too bombastic for the audience…

   To ipanema: It is the day of your shining moment…for all mothers in the world.

   To Daphne: Yeah, I am thinking of telling the story here even if most of you already know how the story goes. But it’s a good try.

   To vic: Thanks vic…I am sure that was a grand celebration they had over there in San Jose.

9. tutubi says; May 16, 2007 @ 2:13 pm

   belated happy mothers day!

   spent mine with my nanay in my hometown aside from casting my vote

10. Jayred says; May 17, 2007 @ 6:56 pm

    Happy Mother’s Day to your wife and Mom, Major Tom! And thanks for the greeting, although I’m not yet a Mom. Unless having a blog is synonymous to having a baby.

11. verns says; May 18, 2007 @ 10:56 am

    Hey Major Tom =D

    Thanks for the mention. Belated Happy Mother’s day to the wonderful women/mothers in your life.

    Ahhhh Joan of Arc…I like her story so much so brave.

12. bw says; May 18, 2007 @ 2:02 pm

    Hope you had a great Mother’s Day celebration, Major Tom. My wife’s Bday is a week before Mother’s Day so I’m bound for double jeopardy LOL :) Celebrated the occasion at an Indian Restaurant for a change… had to be ready with my Tums tablets hehe but we loved it

13. Major Tom says; May 18, 2007 @ 11:41 pm

    To ladybug: (this may be a little delayed due to an oversight) Even if Raphael is now gone from this mortal world, he remains your cherish son and you remain a loving mother, now and forever. Carry on and soon, who knows, another Rapahel may come, one that shall see yoyu through to a joyous lifetime.

    To tutubi: Lucky nanay you got, with a loving daughter who comes home for the special occassion.

    To jayred: Oh, another mistake just like that on Toe. I bet I should know that, but I always felt that in some way, women like you and Toe, loving wives to lucky husbands are mothers in their own way, even if they are not yet.

    To verns: I watched recently a modern movie version of it and it was a little gory, with her tried and tied to a post. But there’s an old movie of her that was so much better, highlighting her heroics among others.

    To BW: Huhhmmm, yummy curries and spicy foods…Indian food makes me salivate all the time. I wonder if all other Indian foof preparation are as good as chicken curry, coz I haven’t tasted any other than the yellow hot soup of a brimming bowl of curry.

14. niceheart says; May 19, 2007 @ 12:31 pm

    Thanks for the greetings, major tom. Hmmn, you are surrounded by many loving mothers. No wonder you seem to be such a compassionate and understanding person.

15. Major Tom says; May 19, 2007 @ 1:01 pm

    To niceheart: Oh, them women are so caring and often a guiding light to us youngsters although I can’t really say I have become so compassionate and understanding, others would have to see that in me, but in my mind, I dont know…I am often mischievous and naughty, and sometimes a spoiled brat he..he..; But I always try to be nice and good often naman.

16. curacha says; May 19, 2007 @ 3:58 pm

    thanks Major Tom…am just wondering who will make me to be a mother, hehe! btw, i read your previous post about that african offer of $35M….somebody from Liberia (kuno) send me the same too, but the money involve is just $25M…binulsa nya na siguro yun $10M, hehe! too good to be true!

17. Major Tom says; May 19, 2007 @ 4:45 pm

    To curacha: Oh I am sure he is just around the corner…Imagine that amount, at first glance it should be so unbeleivable; but some still falls victim eh?

18. annamanila says; May 19, 2007 @ 4:54 pm

    Thanks for the piece on moms .. will take it generally, as one for this mom too.

    Enjoyed the story about the extemporaneous speaking contest. I bet you would have won if u didnt get carried away. So, you’re a feminist … were even at a young age. Well, good for you, Major Tom!

19. Major Tom says; May 19, 2007 @ 7:13 pm

    To annamanila: You could say that i am a feminist if you must coz I have no inclination towards differentiating individuals merely based on gender….Except for the physical aspect, its clear that everything could be level…

    BTW, Happy belated Mother’s Day na rin sa iyo…I should have greeted you right on but wasnt sure yet if you’re a mom already or still single…

20. rhodora says; May 23, 2007 @ 12:48 pm

    Thanks for including me here in your greetings, Major Tom! Belated Happy Moms Day to your wife!

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