Celebrating my Mother, Mummy

by Antonetta
(Goa, India)

You were a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friendly and helpful neighbor ... All these roles you played have given us so many memories.

Along with my older brother and younger sister, I cherish the legacy you have left for us Mummy.

Mummy, Avozim, Maxen, Titi, Mann-Estel, Estela, Aunty, you were called by many a name. However, from family to strangers you treated everyone the same.

Mummy you have not left us wealth: a large bank balance or gold or properties, but by example you taught us generosity, compassion, forgiveness. You gave us strength. You left us lessons in perseverance and patience.

You were our IRON LADY. Dad called you Brue Lee: a stronger person would be hard to find. You were always kind.

You reached out to all: friends, neighbors, relatives, with a heart to care, though you had no money, gold or gifts to share, only good advice, kind encouraging words and helping hands to spare.

For your three children and three grandchildren you gave your best, now in God's arm you rest. In heaven as on earth, Mummy do your best to send us blessings with full zest.

My Mum outlived my Dad by twenty-one years. She was the eldest daughter and the eldest daughter-in-law. And she fulfilled both these roles pretty well.

With very little Portuguese, and minimum education, she worked hard to give us, her children, a good education and to impart faith. She was a self-taught woman: practical and generous. She commanded respect and lived with dignity.

That she prayed for a religious vocation for my brother and me, goes to show the depth of her faith. My brother did not persevere, but my vocation as a nun is the fruit of my Mummy's prayers.

Mummy did not have major health issues, except loneliness. She was very enterprising, she learnt to use mobile phone in 1998 and of late was using smart phone to chat with us on face time, to watch her favorite Konkani videos and to watch Mass and Adoration services.

Thank you Mummy, each one of us, your children, have something of you in us. We are the sum total of you and Daddy. We celebrate you each time we live your teachings. Thank you Mummy.