Happy Birthday Mama!!
Today I’m extra happy on your birthday;
Because you are celebrating it here with me
For the last nine years that I was far and away
I felt bad that only a phone call and greeting card were sent your way
Today, all the best I wish for you
For no one else deserve it more than you do
I hope that my bringing you here in America makes you happy
For if I remember it clearly, this has been your dream since I was a baby
It’s understandable if you miss my siblings and the rest of our family
Because that’s how I also felt when I left everybody
Though I just hope that today you feel the same way as I do
Glad to celebrate your birthday, with just me and you
Since it is Holy Thursday and we can’t really have a big party for you
Hopefully, by cooking Bibingka you’ll feel like being back home too
Just imagine that you are surrounded by everybody
As they all sing “Happy Birthday, happy birthday”
As a child I used to mumble when you and Nay woke me up at early dawn
So I can help ground the bibingka mixture on that antique grinding stone
Back then I wasn’t so pleased that you guys disturbed my sleep
But now, this is one of the childhood memories I truly keep
It’s funny that you and your mother cook one of the best bibingkas in town
Yet, our first American experiment turned out to be all black and brown
Tikoy”, you said, is the exact term to describe our attempt on this delicacy
Surely they are not perfect, but for me, they still taste yummy
Maybe getting the right US ingredients and measures for “our” bibingka
Is just like going thru the process of bringing you here in America
It faced a lot of challenges, time, patience and more
But when done right, the taste of success is very sweet to savor
So, let me try to end this note with loving words especially just for you
Because I am not good with emotions and actions I can physically show
Mama, whether near or far, birthday or not, bibingka or tikoy, please know
I’m glad to have a mother like you and that my love is forever true
P.S. Thanks for all the bibingka.
Filed under: Food and Drink, Thankful Posts and tagged cebu bibingka, happy birthday mama
Impressive dedication to a beloved mother. She must have been so proud of you.
wet, wet, wet…..!!!! sayoha nimong nagpahilak nako, Mich wuuuiii…!!!
the most beautiful poem i’ve ever read in my life…!!!!!
we have so much wishes in life but a devoted daughter like you is the best thing all mothers could have achieve than any other treasure in this world… I am not a good daughter to my mother and honestly i didn’t even regret it……funny but we (my siblings) have a reason for it, may it be good or bad…. all the same, i try to be a good mother to my girls and ‘though i didn’t expect much from them to give back the love i had for them later but i still wish that they will just know that i am a very good mother to them like your Nanay and that they would never wish to have another mother than me…..!!!!
You’re both lucky to have each other and i wish i have the same luck with my girls too…….!!!!!!
God bless our family, Mich.
wow..so very touching te…
very marvelous offerings…
Nay, the poem you wrote to your mother was enlightening. I came to realize so many things and made me thought that I really missed so much things and have to catch up so many things on both my mom and I. I felt the same passion but I never had a chance to show it to her.
Thank you and maybe it’s not too late to kiss and make up …
@Rey, thanks for the comment. I also enjoyed the note/poem that you made for your mother. It was lovely.
@Babes, I was also crying so hard when I composed this poem. The more I cried when I read it to my mother when she woke up after her nap. She hardly cries, you know, not even when she left Cebu. Sorry to hear about your relationship with your mother. I am pretty sure your actions were due to certain situations growing up. You are a very good mother to your daughters and I am sure that they look upon you as the best mom ever.
@Liezl, thanks cousin for the comment.
@Raquel, I hope things will be better for you and your mom someday. Maybe, one of you just needs to initiate…and hopefully, you’ll try to take some steps this coming Mother’s Day. I always remember this words-of-wisdom from my grandmother & mother, that “I will never realize how deep a mother’s love until I have kids of my own”. Unfortunately, this opportunity of motherhood hasn’t come to me yet, so I try my best to return the love they gave.