Happy Birthday Mrs Lee

To my dearest mum:

What can I say? I'm blessed to have the world's greatest Mum. Your unwavering love and support in almost every aspect of my life has had a tremendous effect on my life. I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am that you are nothing like those controlling mothers who force their children to do and achieve what they have never been able to achieve but you are always there to share your council and wisdom on every question that I could possibly have.

You have always been there for me, through my sad times, through my break ups, through the times where I question life, and question the future. On top of that, you have always been supportive of my every decision in life. (Well, towards the supportive side). Even to the point where you had to have your son move 7 hours away by airplane, especially since it's your only child, just to support my ideal university life. You have continued to be proud of me despite my failures, and you are always at the ready to make sure that I am having a good life.

Of course, we have had our differences and we have had our fights, but at the end of the day, being apart makes me remember that our differences in fact matter very little when all the time we have left is precious. Having freedom is of course good, but at the same time, I will always miss that face I see when I step into our home, the cheerful greetings I get when your key slips into the lock after a day at work. I haven't been the best son, but I do hope to become a better one day by day.

As I take a closer look at your face, I notice the wrinkles that never used to be there, the very fact that you're 60 and you're still fitter than I am, climbing up 50 over stories worth of stairs daily. Apart from that, you are always keen to learn new things, and it's really an inspiration for me. I am thankful for the advice given to me, the years upon years of waking up at 6am to wake me up for school, washing and ironing my clothes, whitening my shoes, buying dinner and above all, the many countless things that you have done for me behind the curtains.

Nothing I can probably do can repay all the effort that you have put into my life, to make me the man I am today. I wish you health, and patience and everything to be well in whatever you do. I hope you know that you and dad mean the world to me, and I miss you everyday. My only ever regret for coming to Korea would be leaving you 2 in Singapore, not being able to celebrate all the important days of the years together. Even the simple routine of having dinner together every Thursday night becomes something that I really crave for. 

Happy Birthday to my dearest, loving mother, and I really hope to see you soon.