My husband is so cute! He very rarely posts anything on his Facebook account, but early this morning, he puts up this sweet comment for our wedding anniversary.

In your smile,warm and fun,you show your gentleness and beauty.. In your heart, I feel all the closeness and care, all the tenderness and devotion of a lifetime romance. In our marriage, all the harmony and hope, all the power and promise of a love that grows ever stronger and more beautiful with every passing year. Mahal na mahal kita.

I was quite touched by his words as he’s a man of few words to begin with. Btw, mahal na mahal kita means “I love you very much” in a Filipino dialect called Tagalog. Anyway, I consider myself so blessed to have such a wonderful man by my side. I couldn’t ask for a better partner in life. Gosh, I’m such a gushy cheeseball.

I missed it by one day, but it’s been three years ago today since my mom passed away. I think about her often and I’m not ashamed to admit I cry when I think about her because I miss her dearly. You know what I miss the most? I miss her jokes. She never failed to make me laugh. All of a sudden, there will be times when I’ll chuckle because something triggered my memory.

Years ago, I remember her discussing sex (very rare for a parent let alone a Filipino/Asian parent) with me as a young teen. For some reason, she tried to explain oral sex, but she didn’t know the technical terms. She referred to fellatio as “licking dee cone” and cunningulus as “licking dee meow meow”. LOL!

So now when I see an ice cream cone or a cat licking itself, I burst out with a chuckle. Ahhh, god, I miss her. Mothers are the best, aren’t they?

It’s been over two years since my mom’s passing and I still find it hard to talk about her without crying. She and I were so close as a mother and daughter could be. It still breaks my heart that she had to go before her time. (She passed away from non-small cell lung cancer.) The doctors have said the likely cause of her cancer was second hand smoking. How ironic. My mother never smoked a day in her life, and even avoided people who smoked or smoking areas and yet, she died from something like this. When she died, I was quite the angry person. I thought it was so unfair someone as kind and good as my mother passed away while scummy, pieces of garbage still lived. I am truly thankful I have a husband who supported me while I was going through my pain. I am not as angry as I once was, but while I’ll never forget my mother, my heart is slowly healing.