My Great Mother

     I always want to write about my mother, but every time I don't because I think I can't describe adequately in terms of her effort to raise me and my sisters, and make our lives easy and wonderful. My great mom, I love to call her that. She is really a great person. She is a patient, struggling, and ambitious lovely mother.

     My father passed away when she was 25 years old, and left behind him three small girls and a baby on the way. I remember that day when my dad died, I was five years old and I'm the oldest child. I can't forget my mom's face that day. She was shocked, helpless, worried about us and what was going to happen to us in the future.

     We used to live in Jeddah, but after my dad's death we moved to Makkah to live with my mother's family. So, I spent my childhood with my grandparents, uncles and aunts. My mother was studying in King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, so she would go there every day from Makkah which was about one hour away by car. She wanted to complete her studying and get a bachelor's degree, so she could find a good job with a good salary.

     After she graduated, when I was about 8 years old, she found a job with difficult work hours. She used to work from 8 p.m. until 2 p.m., then she had a break until 5 p.m. , and would go back to work from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. I remember that we couldn't see her during the weekdays except in her break time when we had lunch together because she went to  work when we were at schools, and would come home when we already had gone to bed. Therefore, she tried to spend her weekends with us, taking us to the beach or the entertainment city. Finally, she got a good job when I was 13 years old.

     Honestly. I didn't understand what a great mom she was until I got married, especially when I became a mother. I realized what a hard life my dear mom had, and how many difficulties and obstacles she faced. She refused to marry again because she wanted to take care of us by herself even though she was young and many of her peers hadn't gotten married yet. I asked her one day about the reason and she told me that she couldn't forget my dad, and she couldn't imagine herself with another man!! She gave us all what we needed. We didn't feel sad or ashamed that we were orphans since we had our strong mom who struggled to live a decent life.

     I am in awe of my mom. She is my hero since she shouldered the burden alone. She raised us on her own, and completed her education to get a better life. She is a really great mother, and I hope I'll be like her.