ULOG #3: Challenging Myself to Write - Day 2.

Maya Angelou once said, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Day 2. Write Something That Someone Told You About Yourself That You Never Forgot.

My mother was an English Teacher. Growing up, I was always afraid to flunk my English classes because, I'm a daughter of an English teacher. I also wasn't too confident showing her what I did. More often than not, she'd always point out the tenses and prepositions I got wrong. I hated it.

It became tougher when I attended high school and college at the same University she was teaching at. She was a well known professor. She was the president of the professors club. She was the Dean of Department of Students Affairs. Everyone knew her. And everytime, as soon as my teachers read my last name, they instantly expect me to be more than good.

I wasn't that good though.

I lived with that for almost 10 years. It was hard to have people expecting too much from you. I tried so hard. But, it just was not enough.

Fast forward to 2011, when my mother has gotten really sick. We were scouring from all the government agencies to assist us with her medical bills. We were running out of funds. Yes, my parents were both working. Me and my sister were too. But, we had 2 siblings still at school and another one who is also diagnosed with cerebral palsy. My mother's medication ranges at 15-20 thousand pesos a week. Not to mention, hospital bills too.

One day, she asked me to write to a government agency about her ordeal. My mom, an English teacher, who was far more better at words than me asked me. By then, I was already in the corporate world and part of my daily routine was to send out emails. Still, I know they are far different. And the thought that my mother was to read it after just made me feel insecure.

I sat down in front if the computer, stared blankly for a while at the monitor. I tried to pick nice words. But, they didn't work. I looked at my mom, imagined what it's like to be her and thought about getting the help we needed for her. Just then, all the words came out. I wasn't too confident but I showed her what I did.

She hugged me. "Your words came from the heart. I like it," she said in her most fragile voice.

Since then, when I'm faced with a situation where I'm struggling to get the right words for, I think of her. And I think from my heart.

Just a few months before she passed on.

This is my Day 2 in my attempt to complete the writing challenge I put myself to. You may read about the challenge here

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Jonah