From the moment I made my journey

into this world and became

your child, we were mother

and daughter sharing one name

but knowing nothing else about each other.

 

We spent a lifetime learning that

I don’t like to sew

That you like to grow

orchids, that we both speak our minds,

But are often the same, you know,

And yet both one of a kind.

 

There we were mother and child.

 

Then we were mother and independent woman for a while

Then we were, after a long time, friends;

Made plans, made trips, made up and tied loose ends.

 

Now we are mothers together, you and I,

From the moment of that journey when I had my own

daughter to smile at, I had never known

what love could be between a mother and child.

But now we are mothers, and I know.

 

–– Louella Dizon San Juan