Tribute

"All that I am, my mother made me" - words of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. This, to me, sounds like the ultimate tribute that one can give to his or her mother.

In a way, I should say the same thing. I remember that when I was barely four or five, my mom was my first teacher, giving me the rudiments of reading and writing. With a lot of patience, she must have sensed that her bunso' will end up being a blogger, thus the reading and writing sessions.

When I was younger, she used to smoke while doing the laundry. She often asked me to light up the long brown cigarets that she enjoyed. And that's probably how I ended up being a smoker for almost twenty three years.

Thank God I made a decision to quit on December 8, 1989. And I stuck to that decision to this very day.

When I was in the grades, my mom often sent me to the market to buy things for lunch or dinner. And that's probably why nowadays doing the marketing is as natural to me as going to the john.

She always allowed me to watch her cook and even let me do some cooking time and again. And that's why I have been able to put together my book on "Food and Cooking and Some Fun".

She is only 86 with many more years to go, I am sure. A simple wife and housewife all her life, she is the beacon of our family. For the most part, I may have become what she wanted me to be, judging on the way she reads me.

My mom is truly the greatest!