What is your best childhood memory of your mom?

My best memory of my mom was seeing her work hard so that she could take me and my siblings abroad every year. My mom made sure that we had everything we needed. I remember that we would drive all the way to Chinatown to buy imported fruits and my favorite castañas right before Christmas since it was not available then in the groceries. Now that I’m a mom, too, I try to be what my mom was to me towards my kids.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, let us not forget to look back at great moments and appreciate everything our moms have done and are doing for us.

Commissioner Liel Cordoba, National Telecommunications Commission

Sometimes what we perceive as the most trivial of things actually has the most bearing in life. Mama’s decision for me to go to the Ateneo de Manila University for high school may sound like a trivial matter to some, but her decision that I do so may just be my most cherished memory of her.  The decision certainly had far-reaching effects on the kind of person I have become. I can still picture vividly the sight of Mama typing my answers to the high school application form using our light green Remington typewriter on our dining table.  She even went the extra mile by accompanying me in submitting the accomplished form to the Office of Admission and Aid.  I can still smell the distinct scent of the freshly cut carabao grass on the high school grounds.  The lavender blouse, the purple skirt and the Tatiana cologne she wore that day just made the experience worth remembering even more.  She even brought Tropical Hut cheeseburgers for the staff of the Admissions Office! Mama’s support was all the way as she was also there when I took the entrance exam.  While I was simply enjoying the moment, I had no idea then that the gesture was actually her way of subtly charting my future. It was no surprise anymore that she ended up happier than I was when we learned that I passed. The bond we established as we took on the challenges that came along with this experience would leave me longing for Mama’s presence time and time again.  No room for regrets, though... as I know I have been fortunate enough (as others are, too) in having received two of the most precious gifts a child can ever have — the gentlest of care and the truest of guidance which only a mother can give.

Camille Tantoco, student

My mom never sings for anyone at all but one time when my sister and I were three years old, we freaked out on a Disneyland ride, so she sang until we stopped crying. That is my best memory of my mom and it was the last time I heard her sing.

Nicole Tantoco, student

One of the best things I love about my mom Crickette is that whenever my sister and I are feeling sad or bored, Mom would think of the most creative ways to cheer us up. Sometimes it’s a surprise shopping day, or she’d allow us to take the day off from school to get matching mother-daughter haircuts. My favorite was when she made us a breakfast of fresh strawberries mashed in milk the first time our family went on vacation together in Baguio. It’s just like her to always teach us the many ways to enjoy the simple pleasures life has to offer. 

Nina Daza Puyat, editor in chief, Appetite

I think my interest in food began when I would see my mom Nora in our French restaurants, always checking on the quality of the food. I would follow her around the kitchen as she tasted soups and sauces and then give her comments to the cooks.  Or she would sit in the dining room and observe the diners, summoning a waiter whenever she saw anything amiss.  A few times, I tagged along on out-of-town trips and she was always curious to try the indigenous food from different provinces.  Her thirst for learning was really infectious, but she also wanted to share her knowledge.  My first trip to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore was with my Mom and the Maya Cookfest winners where they did cooking demos to promote Philippine cuisine. One summer, at the age of 13, I worked as a bartender and waitress in our Filipino restaurant in Paris, and I realized even then that she was on a mission to tell the world about Filipino food.

Annika Prieto Valdes, student

When I was about eight I went to Rockwell with my mom Tessa. We went shopping, watched a movie and ate — the usual. We were all together,  my whole family at the toy store. It was a big store, especially to an eight-year-old kid. I started walking around, getting lost in the rows of Barbie dolls and board games. It was only after I while when I realized that I was completely alone. I walked over to the boy’s sections with Beyblades and Pokémon cards. I couldn’t find Ty, who I was sure would be in that section. So I walked out of the store, which was probably a very stupid thing to do. But I walked out, and just casually looked around for them, telling myself not to freak out. I didn’t think it was that serious, I just figured they went to another store. After a while a guard found me, and asked where my parents were. I shrugged and he brought me around to look for them.

Alexandra M. Eduque, founder and chair, Habitat for Humanity Philippines Youth Council and Move.Org Foundation Inc.

While it’s hard to choose a single memory, looking back, what stands out and what I cherish most were the days I had off school when I could go with my mom Chuchu to her office in Escolta. I remember choosing to spend my holidays that way, and I looked forward to being able to go with her because I cherished seeing how she spent her days. It made me feel so proud to see how hard she worked. I remember wanting to help her out even in the smallest of ways, whether it was delivering notes to different offices, or as I grew older, typing up documents for her. It gave me instant gratification knowing that I took part, and got involved in whatever she was doing. And to this very day, I find myself following in her example of working hard and persevering every day.

Amina Aranaz, designer, Aranaz Bags

My best childhood memory with my mom was my and my sister’s weekly Saturday dates with her. It would always start with having lunch in our chosen restaurant of the week then move on to wherever our curiosities would take us for the rest of the day. Whether it was a mall, bazaar, or someone’s home. This continued up until I was an adult and the tradition only ended when I became a mother myself.

Karen Davila, broadcast journalist

My mom Purita was such a strong but emotional figure when I was growing up. Most memorable was seeing her working hard through the toughest times and giving me lessons I’ve carried on in life — she told me to value myself and finish my education, that it’s the best gift she can give me. I love my mom so much, she is my pillar, I lean on her and really adore her.

Theo Zaragoza, food stylist and managing director, Resultado Gourmet Designs, Co.  and resident food consultant, Alaska Milk

Back when I was 12 years old during a summer vacation in the States, I would watch my momsie cook in the kitchen, trying to learn from her tips and tricks. It was the same summer she handed me ingredients for sinigang and asked me to prepare our family favorite dish all by myself. I have to say this was the time I fell in love with cooking.

Janela Benitez, office manager

When we were younger, my family would go to Pampanga every Good Friday because my mom Arnie would want us to join the annual procession that was being held by one of the small towns. I remember us all walking for hours holding candles in the night while my mom would happily play her violin with the band  (this while walking beside us). This would happen every single year! She’d tell us it was one of her ways of showing how much she loves God. I’m thankful that my mom was able to instill wonderful values in her children.

Christine Bersola Babao, TV personality

There are so many memorable moments with my mom. But each travel time with my mom is most memorable because it is when she is most relaxed and happy, when she is most fun and funny! One of them is a July 2012 trip to the US. Look at her smile — super excited di ba? And to think this isn’t her first time in the US. She is like a little girl in a candy store when she travels with us as a family. She is simply the best and I love her!

Chef Sharwin Tee, host, Lifestyle Network

My favorite childhood memory with my mom Lily would have to be our Saturday “movie night” at Broadway Centrum with my brother.  We’d have dinner at Kamameshi House and then catch the latest blockbuster.  Having Japanese food piqued my interest in the different ways of cooking rice, from plain to fried to Kamameshi  style, and watching movies at night made me feel like a grownup. Those were definitely good times!

Cybill Gayatin, director of Possibilities, A-List Events PR & Advertising

I’ve been blessed with so many childhood memories with my mom Arcy that it’s hard to choose just one, but I guess one memory that I always revisit is when I was about eight years old, she’d sit me down with her little notebook of facts and teach me things that weren’t covered in school. She introduced me to the great inventors  (Franklin, Edison, Bell), she would show me photos of famous paintings and tell me about the artists who painted them (mostly the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists from her favorite periods in art), she would read to me poetry (Whitman, Wordsworth, Frost), and taught me the Gettysburg Address by heart (though I’m not sure what use an eight-year-old had for it!). My brother and I listened to bedtime stories not by the Brothers Grimm but by Shakespeare, abridged and in modern, not Elizabethan English, of course. (We were smart kids, but we weren’t that smart.) And while all these lessons taught me to identify Van Gogh’s “Cypresses” and the words to “Daffodils,” I think the greatest lesson my mom imparted was a genuine love for learning — one that goes beyond textbooks and the classroom. I owe to my mom my appreciation for art, love for literature, and most importantly, the knowledge that no matter how much you think you already know about the world, there’s always more of it to learn about and love.