of memoirs and musings

These words are carved onto a simple piece of wooden frame that used to hang on the wall of Atah's office in the brewery. After he retired, he gave it to me. He said no matter how bad the days would get at work, those words always gave him much strength. Now it hangs on the wall where my study desk is, garlanded with my glow-in-the-dark rosary and no matter how terrible the thesis writing gets these days, those words are giving me much love, hope, comfort and perspective.
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Perhaps being her firstborn, Mama and I share a telepathic link that finds her calling me up on the phone whenever I find myself alone in my darkest hour. In tears after a heated quarrel, when I felt like giving up, when panic left me fear-stricken or when I was festering in homesickness, the phone will ring on cue and Mama's cheery voice would go "Hallo Ah Cheh!" on the other end. Perhaps I gave my emotions away each time with the nervous laughter, the long pauses or the one-word responses... Mama would somehow know there was something troubling me.

Gentle admonishments, wise advice or just simply listening as everything came unveiled in a torrential outpour, Mama would clear away the storm clouds above my head and the barbed wires around my heart.
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Have I told you lately, how much I love you?