Happy Birthday Mom!

I'm not sure about my Mom's real age because she never gave the same answer whenever I asked. I checked out her IDs before and it had different birth years! My Mom vaguely explained that she got her driver's license at a very young age and so they had to add a couple of years on the form so she could get one. Another time she said that she started working young and the bank had an age requirement. Oh well, so I never really asked how old she really is. My guesstimate is she's about 2 years younger than my Dad.

My Mom loves flowers. She's got this huge garden (plus backyard) filled with flowering plants, including orchids. A lot of our neighbors say that she's got a green thumb and is a very talented amateur florist. And because of her garden my Mom doesn't like taking long vacations because her garden only comes to life when she is around. She left the garden to my care several times before and even though I water the plants and talk to them they all just wilt and turn brown on me. Hmph.

So I got Mom this really pretty orchid from the Manila Flower Center. When I saw the orchid I knew I had to get it for my Mom even though it meant that I wouldn't have any money left for lunch, merienda and dinner (yes, it was expensive!). I got the plant and prayed that it wouldn't wilt while Sweetie and I were delivering wedding invitations. The sacrifice was worth it because Mom had this huge smile on her face when she saw my pasalubong and early birthday gift. It was the same smile she always had when I brought her home a rose I'd buy after school when I was in sixth grade (I did so for about a week by scrimping on my allowance).

Happy birthday Mom! I know I'll be moving out soon... don't be sad (she's been emo the past quarter), I'll just be around the corner :)

*Special thanks to our Ninang and my baptismal Ninang for feeding us lunch and dinner. Hehehe.