Mom, the one and only.
I remember when I was a little girl, I accompanied her walking to our store every morning sharing the same umbrella, covering the shiny sun, and went back home at the evening, hugging or holding each other hand, because of the very cold weather (it could be up to10 degree Celsius!).
I remember mom once said to go to other store to just ask about the price of something, but I insisted mom, that it would be easier just to call the store. In the end, mom won of course, plus she gave me a lecture about how worth 100 rupiah is to be spent on the phone bill.
I remember I begged mom to sell candies at school and she approved with one term, only selling it after school. This was probably my very first job: a salesperson!
I remember running to my mom's store after school just to tell her that one of my kindergarten mate threw a stone over my face. It caused a little bleeding (Now I remember why I got a scar on my upper eyebrow), and I was crying like a crazy. Definitely my mom did the right thing afterward. Called that boy's mom and told the whole story (Yes it's a very small town, we know each other well: names, addresses, also phone numbers). And yup, the boy's mom came to apologize, said sorry to me and mom. So I stopped crying, felt a little bit uneasy and embarrassed, because the pain was long gone, before she came. Hehehe..
I remember when my school had an annual parade, which every one should dress up as told, I got the priest costume (in my town they were mostly Catholic, I was like the only Christian in my class). So I told mom to sew me an exact costume like my priest at the church. Mom took me to the tailor and figured out, that the fabric was so expensive than she thought. But I got it eventually, exactly like I wanted. And guess what? I ended to be more like a judge than a priest. Hehehe. Later on, I knew that mom at that time actually had a hard time financially, but she managed to get everything her children needs. I felt guilty.
I remember my first fave game is (until now) : the crossword! Every time we had a spare time in our store we filled in the crossword together. Trying to fill all the white squared fully. And my fave book? Bobo!! The all time kids favorite magazine! Mom bought it for us (me and my siblings) so we can learn about words, pictures, and others. My reading habit began at that time.
When I get older, I am maybe a little bit away from her (and dad), living alone, separated by islands, but we keep in touch by phone frequently. I maybe do not have a full time with her if she comes visiting here, but she always in my heart (sounds cliche but it's the truth). She is now learning to use blackberry, and it is really helpful, because we could share our daily story or picture as much as we want. And the interesting part is she keeps asking the same question over and over again, like "How do I copy and paste this number again?", "Oh I forget how to create a new contact!", and other thing. I will mock her and we will laugh together loudly because of her silliness hahaha..
Now that I have a job and sort of stand on my own feet, she still doesn't want to receive my money. Every time I call her, she will keep it quick and short because she is afraid of the phone bill -_-. She always tell me to keep my money for my own and she (and Dad) will not 'touch' it.
As today is her birthday, I pray to God to keep her safe and sound, to be happy and cheerful as always, to have the strength to support Dad no matter what, to have healthiness to see a lot of grand kids in the future, and to have a heart of youngster always. I love you, Mom.
