I love you Mom

Four years ago I talked it over with my wife to move our family from San Diego to Saipan.  At that time, my mom had another stroke (the first happened in 2000), and on top of that, she was diabetic and receiving dialysis treatments three times a week.  To put it frankly, my mom was in poor health, and what concerned me aside from her degrading health, was that she had not even met my daughters.  That thought was tugging at my heart.  If she were to leave us, she would not have had the chance to know my kids.

So with my wonderful wife's blessing, we moved our family to Saipan.

Spending the last four years here on Saipan has been wonderful for me, for my wife, and kids, and most especially for my mom.  We were able to move my mom in to live with us and to help care for her.  My mom got to know my daughters, my wife, and most recently, my son, who was born here on Saipan.  Likewise, my family got to know my mom.  We've made some wonderful memories together and I am happy about that.

I write about this because my mom passed away.  It's been a month now since she's left her earthly body and my heart still grieves.  I knew the day would come for her to leave us, as her health continued to decline, but it's never something that you could prepare for as the emotions and tears force their way to the surface.

Despite my grief, at least I know my mom is no longer suffering, and that she got the chance to know my family and my family got the chance to know her, and that she left each of us memories of her that we can keep in our hearts.  And with those memories, combined with our love for her, my mom will continue to live on in our lives.

Hu guaiya hao mama.