My Whole Heart In A Picture |LOH #231

Around July 2023, I traveled with my dad, and what we thought was going to be just a month trip ended up being 6 months. Six months away from home, from loved ones, from people I knew, and most importantly, from my mother. And that was the longest time I’d been away from her.

Although throughout that time, I was very occupied, I thought about her every single day. I would send her pictures of my day, my outfits, how things went, and every other thing.

In February 2024, my dad finished what he had to do, and we were finally going to fly back home. I couldn’t contain my excitement. Weeks before going back home, I kept on thinking about what to give my mom upon my return.

And the thing with this woman is that she appreciates everything you give her, whether big or small. I knew that she was definitely going to tell me not to worry if I asked her about what she wanted. So I started making a tote bag for her about two weeks before we got home because she loves my crochet and prefers handmade stuff.

When I got home, I was so happy to see her, and we both couldn’t let go of each other even though on a normal day, we would fight like sisters. That particular day was 11th February 2024, three days to Valentine, so I thought of surprising her with the tote bag as her pre-Valentine gift.

I asked her to come with me to the beach, her favorite place in the whole world, which also happens to be mine as well. And she actually thought we were just going to have a mother-daughter day out at the beach, but I had other plans.

When we got there, we talked for so many hours. I told her how my trip with my dad went and all that she had to know. She also told me what had happened when I wasn’t around. We laughed so much that day, and then at a point, I asked her to close her eyes.

She definitely wasn’t expecting that, so she was confused. That’s when I removed the tote bag from where I was hiding it, and she was so surprised and happy. When she held that bag, she just knew I spent a lot of time and energy on it. She made us take a lot of pictures that day, but my absolute all-time favorite is the first picture up there. She started thanking me and saying a lot of blessings on my life.

We were both so excited that day, totally lost track of time, and ended up leaving the beach very late. That picture reminds me of how much I’m loved and how much I’m lucky to have that beautiful and kind woman as my mother and sometimes, my big sister. Hehe. Safe to say I won as a daughter.