The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By GEM SUGUITAN
Every child has a mother. It could be the biological one, or somebody else who took the role of nurturing the vulnerable little tot until the child is ready to live on his or her own. With the evolving role of motherhood, even single fathers can be mothers, too!
Mothers do everything for the child to have a good life and a stable future. This month, we celebrate a specific day to give them gratitude, honor and highlight their importance in our lives: Mother’s Day, every second Sunday of May each year. Now on its 110th anniversary since it first became an official holiday in the United States which was followed or adapted by other countries all over the world, Mother’s Day has gone from simple to extravagant and commercialized; and after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, back to the simple, inexpensive celebration.
Individuals and families have their own way of celebrating this special occasion. One of the simplest ones is a sincere and warm greeting with the sweetest embrace or kiss without any material gift to go with it. When mothers no longer remember the names of their children or even their own, and when any of the beautiful things on earth could no longer make them happy, only the caring, gentle love and warmth from their children would matter.
The culture of motherhood that we have in the Philippines generally make mothers as super as they can be that their roles as mothers extend to their grandchildren. But that same culture often do not prepare the children nor grandchildren for the time when the mother that took care of all of them will one day get old with no one on their side because everyone else is busy working or crafting his or her own life.
When the future is being prepared for the children, the future of the (soon-to-be) elderly should also be one of the priorities of every family. Because one day sooner or later, the mother would need mothering from the young, especially when she could no longer take care of herself. Consider this on Mother’s Day. Nothing is ever too late if we begin today.