62 + 1

I am still working on getting a card reader that can hook up through USB into our computers so I can post pictures off our camera. Our direct USB cable kinda went kaput on us a while back so we haven't been able to load any pictures but they are all sitting on the camera. I will see if I can get one today from The Source...

It is a little late but I'd like to do a quick post on my Mom celebrating her 63rd birthday this past friday. Usually post of these nature wax on in cliche like manner on how great one's Mom is. A whole lot of blah blah blah which can be really sweet, but ultimately like a sample taken from one of those candy bins at the local grocery store... you can take one 'cause, no one will miss it... hardly a blip on the radar...

See the one thing I truly appreciate about my mom is that even at 63 she is continually growing and educating herself. I am not sure if she was always like this. Part of me thinks that she was your traditional asian mom for much of her earlier motherhood years (you asian offpsrings known exactly what I am talking about ) but this all change when she started working for a Christian bookstore and started reading during the lulls between customers. She digested what she read and it slowly changed her life.

I was already away from home and spending most of my time in the States but on my visits I could see sutle differences. The best change takes time because your character is best modified at the core. But it was there. She was more open, she was more spiritual, she was more patient, and she was more loving.

Some may say I too had changed. I was now a grownup.

Maybe it was the two us.

I am now married to a pinay. A true home grow filipina. In many ways she is the same place that my mom was when she first arrived in North America. As I get to know the nuances that make my wife who she is, new insight and undestanding are gained into what it was like to try to bring up kids in a totally new culture. The fight to maintain your foundation and identity (maybe even to realize that you had one) were immense.

After a Sabbath together I watched my parents get into their rental as my pregnat wife and I sat in the front seats of our brand new car (Yay! Wedding video style). We were on the edge of Calgary at the Husky gas station that sits just outside of Calgary Internation Airport (give it up for the YYC! yeeeahhh). It was steadily snowing and even though that new car smell that I love was around me, I couldn't help but feel truly sad to see them go.

Happy birthday Mom. You taught me that change is a big part of life. You taught me that trials and tribulations are to be embraced because some life's best lessons are learned in times of adversity. You taught me the importance of rest. You taught the power of prayer. You taught me to build my faith.

There is still much you teach...