Being a mother and a daughter
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Many of us live miles away from our extended families. My mother and siblings live thousands of miles away in another continent. This is the price we have to pay for being expats.
So it is with a heavy heart that I embarked on this journey across the world today – to a mother who is seriously ill but leaving my family – 2 young children and a husband – behind.
In a way, travelling is easy. I had only 1 small piece of check-in luggage, and I only have my laptop bag and hand bag to hand-carry. No backpacks with spare clothes, activity books, or snacks. I didn’t have to worry about little boys having to go to the toilet, getting enough to drink and to eat. A little girl threw up on the first leg of the long flight. I gave the harried mom a sympathetic look. It could have been me.
I could enjoy the on-board entertainment without interruption. I could watch whatever film I wanted without worrying about age-appropriateness. I could work on my computer, as what I am doing now, sitting in an isolated corner of the Doha International Airport. I have electric power and free Internet access. What more could I ask? Or I could go duty-free shopping.
Except that I am worried about my children I left behind in Switzerland and the ailing mother waiting for me.
Talk about feeling torn. I feel like I am suspended in time, midway from everywhere, trapped in my itinerary, going from one time zone to another – and still another one coming up. The only connections I have to the rest of the world – and my family – are my cell phone and the Internet. Every little kid I see reminds me of what I’ve left behind. Every old woman I see reminds of the parent who needs me. I am both a daughter and a mother. Can I fulfil the duties required of both roles?
Life is full of tough choices and it is our bound duty to make them for the sake of our families.
Excuse me, my connecting flight is boarding.
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