Pure

something that my colleague told my students during a camp that the students' council organised recently: "the purest form of service when you get nothing in return."

how many people actually are capable of that? how many people can truly be altruistic, not consider about themeselves and do something simply because that is the right thing to do?

just like love. how many people can truly love another person without hoping that their love be returned? how many people can truly sacrifice for their loved ones without asking for anything else? how many people can truly give without wanting anything back? how many people can truly put his/her loved ones before himself/herself?

not many. perhaps mothers. but in this day and age, there are some mothers who treat their children as nothing but a retirement fund of sorts. thankfully, my mother is not one of those.

my mother is a great lady. sure... she is weird, thrifty to the point of miserly, can be super messy... but she puts up with me. that alone is a Herculean task. she sacrifices for my brother and me, always thinking about us before anything else, before herself.

i don't think i'll ever be able to tell my mom how much i appreciate all that she has done, how much i respect her and how much i love her.