Thank You, Ma, Today And Always

Dear Ma,

Thank you for bearing the pain for 9 months while I was in your womb and even after for so many years. Thank you for waking up early every morning to ensure I am fed. Thank you for sleeping late every night to ensure that I am sleeping well. Thank you for watching over me. Thank you for protecting me. Thank you for standing long hours in the kitchen to give me healthy food. Thank you for cleaning the house to give me a clean place to live in.

Thank you, Ma for helping me with homework and projects. Thank you for running around so that I was active in extracurricular activities. Thank you for teaching me morals and values. Thank you for teaching me to love mother Earth. Thank you for teaching me to worship goddesses and respect other women. Thank you for teaching me to be independent.

Thank you for teaching me that men and women can do the same jobs and chores. Thank you for balancing between your work life and home life. Thank you for enduring society’s pressures.

Thank you for those sleepless nights when I used to be up worried about an exam the next day and studying with me throughout the night. Thank you for showing me how to love myself, embrace myself, and teaching me not to care about society’s judgments on being “pretty”, “stupid”, “skinny”,  “light-skinned”, and “normal”.

Thank you, Ma for doing all that you do for me. Words are not enough to express the gratitude towards you, and I usually do not thank you, but I know you deserve it. I love you. 

Sincerely,

Your South Asian sons and daughters

On this special day, thank you to the generations of mothers and motherly figures that have done everything to educate and protect their children.