5月14日は“母の日”でした。

5月の第二日曜日を“母の日”としてお祝いするのは日本もフィリピンも同じです。

（ちなみに、“母の日”をお祝いする国は世界中に多々ありますが、5月の第二日曜日を“母の日”としているのは一部の国だけで、その他の日付は実にバラバラです）

この日、筆者はCathy講師と話をする機会がありましたが、開口一番”Happy Mother’s Day to your mom!”と言われました。日本では自分の母親に「ありがとう」と言うことはあっても、誰かに向かって「あなたのお母さんにおめでとう」という言い方はしないので、新鮮な驚きがありました。

家族の繋がりを非常に大切にするフィリピン人らしい表現と言えますね。

さて、この“母の日”のためにLiz講師がブログ記事を寄稿してくれましたので、今日はそちらをご紹介します。母親からの「人生を変えるひと言」はどのような言葉だったのでしょうか…？

My Mom, My Catalyst　(A Tribute for Mother’s Day)

By: Liz Agawa

“Focus on your gift, my child. I believe in you!”

Two simple sentences; ten short words. But simple and short as it was, my Mama’s message worked in me like some magical catalyst.

I was preparing for university that week, and at that time I was planning on taking up a biology course so that I could one day become a doctor. Yet, the conviction in my mother’s voice and the sparkle in her eyes made me think twice and look within myself. Why did I really want to take up a pre-med course…? Was it really so that I could help many people? Or, was it simply because there were some very good doctors in our family tree and the initials ‘M.D.’ may also looked nice after my name?

The more that I pondered on it, the more I knew that mom was right: Much as I wanted to prove to her that I was independent and capable of making my own decisions, I did enjoy the field of linguistics a lot…in fact, I honestly liked sharing with others my discoveries in the English language, no matter how seemingly trivial.

So yes, you guessed correctly: I ended up signing up for a course where I learned how to write and speak more confidently. If not for my mother’s stubborn belief in me and innate spunk, I never would have taken the challenge to fly all the way to the U.S. when I was nineteen, just to learn how to teach English to speakers of other languages…and, I would never have been able to experience being welcomed into corporate and social gatherings with foreign ambassadors and heads of state when I had my practicum in college, and later on, at work.

More than anything, I admire my mother’s adherence to self-discipline and her impartation of giving one’s best to whatever task is at hand, from doing chores to preparing for students’ lessons. It is partly because of her influence that I applied as an online instructor here at BBTOGI. She saw in me something that even I did not see, and gave me the push that I needed in order for me to help other people brush up on their language skills.

Mama may not be superwoman, but as one of my greatest life mentors, I’d say that in my life she is one, bar none.
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