Mother's Day with Mom

My mom’s been in good spirits lately. She gave me this flower on Mother’s Day. I’ve been trying to see her more often. I got her a pair of slip-on canvas shoes, which she likes. They’re more practical than the Mary Janes she had before. The elastic straps weren’t easy for her to fasthen and they stretched out of shape.

She’s become more childlike over time. She often smiles to herself and to kids we happen to see. Cats and dogs catch her attention too. She likes animal videos, and has lost interest in movies. She used to be a Tom Cruise fan. When I told her there was a Mission Impossible sequel set in space, she said she didn’t want to see it because “it’s too far,” and laughed.

In the past year or so, my mom has finally started to teach me the dialect she spoke with her family, 潮州 Chaozhou/Chiuchow/Teochew. I used to beg her to teach me as a child. She would say it’s not useful. Now, she answers my questions. There’s an aide at her nursing home who speaks the dialect too. When she tries to speak it with my mom, she may or may not answer, depending on her mood.

I’ve finally discovered why night crowned herons like to hover near people who are fishing in 筲箕灣 Shau Kei Wan. One day, they were vying for space near a man who was fishing, driving one another from the lamp posts, the railing and the sidewalk. The man caught a small fish, which he threw on the ground. One of the herons swooped it up, took it to a flowerbed a few feet away, and gobbled it up.