I celebrated every single Mother’s Day with my wife and kids ever since I became a father, but this year was a different one!
While I was in Shanghai this March, Dorcas sent me news that my mom was sent to hospital. She lost strength and balance in the washroom due to an overdose of painkillers that was trying to relieve her pains that resulted from her deteriorating spine. She got several stitches on her head. Despite two falls, we thank the LORD that no bones were broken!
I love to fly kites on the rooftop with my neighboring kids when I was young. We were dying to see whose kite went highest and farthest, to an extent that we even cut each other’s kite down. Whenever a kite got broken, we ran after it to see who could get it. Since we lived by the sea, I can still remember many times I would stand frozen by the shore to watch a broken kite blown away towards the sea until it disappear from sight. ….many years later, I feel like myself as a broken kite: carried by the wind from one continent to another!
A Chinese proverb says “A wanderer longs to return home and a tired bird longs for his nest.” It is true for me in the past ten years since my dad passed away. I try my best to maximize the time to visit my mom in Hong Kong. My mom is an independent, easygoing and helpful lady never expecting people’s return or our help. Therefore she took her recent falls really hard. As we visited her at the hospital in March (my brother and his wife also came back from US), we were heartbroken and yet so helpless to see her suffering from such unbearable pain. In order to cheer her up and encourage her to move on, we five children decided to take her out for an early birthday celebration dinner. How precious is this moment! This is only the fifth time in the past 40 years that all her children could gather together! Although her pain was not lessening during the dinner, her face was brilliantly satisfied! My brother, his wife and I all flown away and returned home the next day.
May 9th was Mother’s Day this year. I never knew about Mother’s Day before I was 18 years old. My dad was a sailor and he was never home so nobody reminded us of celebrating Mother’s Day with her. After I left home at 18, I had never celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom! After much thoughts in April, I decided to go back Hong Kong once more in May to celebrate Mother’s Day with her. We took her out from hospital for 2 days. My sister pushed her in a wheelchair. We took her to senior center, church worship service and even take her to meet with her old friends! At a dinner time with all of us and her grandchildren together she was overjoyed! She suddenly said, “Today I am so joyful! I have been waiting for 90 plus years for tonight!” My heart sank at her words…..may God bless her so that we can celebrate Mother’s Day with her again!
On my return flight to Canada, the plane met a strong air current that woke me up from a deep sleep. As I watched the Rockies out of the window with dazzling white snow I wondered if there are any houses or villages. Suddenly I saw a single piece of cloud by my window! My mind flew back to my mother at her hospital bed of the past few days. She was crying and moaning, questioning and feeling helpless…..everything was still clear on my mind! The night before I left her, I held her hands to pray for her. As I said, “Amen” my mother’s hands wouldn’t let go of mine! I thought she did not want to see me go but she prayed out loud instead! She asked the Lord to protect my way home, and she blessed every person in my family by name! I know that my mom had always been praying for us, but it was the first time I heard her earnest prayers holding my hands. After she said “Amen” we let her sleep. I quickly took my brother and sister’s hands to leave as I was holding my tears!
I took my mother’s blessing as I returned home next day. This piece of cloud reminds me of my mother’s loving care and encouragement by my side. Though we are thousand miles apart, our hearts are joined together in the LORD!
Rev. C. H. Siu