Pagkatapos kong umiyak kay mommy ay inimbitahan niya ako na tumulong sa kusina. I was so happy. Hindi ko maipaliwanag ang saya na naramdaman ko habang magkasama kami sa kitchen kanina. Para talaga akong batang unang beses lang nakapag-bonding kasama ang kanyang ina. But while I was with her, and I saw her smiling genuinely at me, and her voice had a softness I had never heard before when she called my name, I realized something.
This was the mother I had longed for all my life, yet for some reason, she had hidden this side of herself from me for so long. At habang nakatingin ako sa kaniya, napagtanto ko ang isang bagay.
What mom gave me was tough love. It wasn't the kind of love most children long for. Sometimes, it felt like harsh treatment—strict rules, painful words, and unfair judgme
