Welcome to our fourth post of Just Another Day on the Island! I’m so proud of my mom, my brother and I for pushing out the content that we have been for an entire month! Thank you also to those who have been so supportive of this venture with our family, and reading our stories and personal thoughts as we learn more about each other and ourselves through this outlet.

Since Mother’s Day is this Sunday, we are dedicating this post to moms everywhere and anywhere. Whether they are our favorite moms in books, movies, or TV shows, mothers that we know and love in person *hint hint*, we want to celebrate you.

Just Another Day on the Island is a bi-weekly discussion post featuring the thoughts and ramblings of the Untalan Clan (aka, Leelynn’s mom and brother). We talk about books, family, and other things that come to mind. This feature officially launched on March 25, 2020.

In a twist of events, we had our mom ask the questions for today’s post! I’m pretty sure I may end up crying with some of these but we’ll see. Let’s get started, shall we?

Describe your mom and share what she means to you.

Roxy: My mom is a loving, caring, giving and soft hearted woman.  She is strong willed, stubborn and very protective over her kids and grandkids.  She gives of herself selflessly to her family and those in need.  My mom means everything to me.  I can’t imagine my life without her in it.

RayGil: My mom is a being of passion for everything in her life. Her job is a result of her passion for helping individuals with disabilities, her lifelong friends are due to her passion for being a great friend, and me and my sister are the reflection for her passion for being a great parent.

Me: Oh gosh what can I say about my mom? She’s been my role model since ever since. Literally she is the one woman that I have always looked up to from such a young age, and still do to this day. She is so selfless and passionate about helping others, even if it means that she herself is in need of help. She won’t ever ask because she doesn’t want to feel like a burden to anyone, but she could never be a burden. She’s loving to those in her life that mean so much to her. She cares so much about the world around her and just wants to do what she can to make this world a better place. She deserves the world, and I wish that I could give it to her. She deals with me and my emotional baggage even when she has her own, and I just don’t know what I would do without her.

Is there a book or movie that had a mom as a character and you saw similar character traits in your mom?  If so, what were they?

Roxy: The movie that best captures aspects of my mom’s character traits is The Joy Luck Club.  There are four mothers and four daughters.  The moms remind me of different aspects of my mom.  For example:  June’s mom reminds me of my mom in that she sees the best in June but seldom does she express it.  June feels that she is not good enough for her mom because she doesn’t wear fancy clothes or doesn’t take the best crab being served for dinner.  Little did she know that her mom sees that June has a good heart and is a good person inside because she is humble and is not full of herself.  My mom grew up poor and did not have the best things.  However, she did the best with what she had and took care of her family very very well.  So much so, that I never felt that I was missing things that my friends had because my home was filled with so much love from my mom that it was more than enough for me.

RayGil: My mom, if transported to a cartoon universe, could be Katara from The Legend of Korra. Katara is loving and supportive, being a healer, but can also kickbutt as an amazing waterbender!

Me: Mom took my answer which is funny because she is the reason why The Joy Luck Club (both the movie and the book) mean so much to me. Both my mom and my grandma remind me of the mothers in this story because of how much they have sacrificed for their children and how they just want us to be able to be proud of where we come from.

As we know, our moms were raised in a different time than you.  How do you think your mom would be if she were raised during your time?

Roxy: I think if my mom was raised in the 70’s, she would be a different person.  She would be very independent and would’ve retired from her career instead of quitting to take care of my dad’s children from his first marriage.  Just the fact that she married a divorcee’ was already taboo for her time. She had to overcome many life situations but she was raised to listen and obey her husband.  If she were raised in my decade, I think she would have a different relationship with my dad.  She would be much more vocal in family matters and I could see her being a career woman.

RayGil: For one if my mom was raised in my generation I think the internet would have given her the opportunity to reach out beyond the small island of Guam, allowing her to make a group of international friends through video games and social media. I think she would have been very involved in physical and mental health groups, perhaps even leading one. Most likely using the internet as a means of business to provide services or other ventures.

Me: I honestly don’t know if my mom would be different because it’s not always about the time period that you’re raised in but who is doing the raising. Maybe she would be a little bit more understanding of the popular trend of making friends on the internet, since that wasn’t a thing back then and a lot of the conversation before was on stranger danger online. But I think my mom would still be the same because of who was the one that raised her to be the woman that she is today.

We all want the best for our moms..  What is your wish for your mom?

Roxy: I have many wishes for my mom, but the one wish currently that I have for her is to have peace of mind and heart that all will be ok.  I get so afraid that the many hardships she faces on a daily basis will bring about a heart attack.  Without saying so much about our family situation, my mom helps several family members.  However, during this pandemic, it has caused a financial hardship and she is unable to be as helpful as she would have been.  This inability to assist her family brings her much stress.  That stress leaves her in tears and with a heart filled with pain.  This will one day cause her to have a heart attack  and I do not want that.  She will be 82 in July and I just want her to live the rest of her life without this stress.

RayGil: What I wish for my mom is to live purely as she would like to. Although this is only half of a cop-out answer, I couldn’t bring myself only to say, “without stress and worry” or “to be happy,” because sometimes one wants to worry about someone or something as it can mean so much to them. And happiness can only be truly felt after times of less-happiness. I would probably answer this question differently if my mom was older, but I know that there is still more for my mom to live through and for.

Me: I wish that my mom didn’t have to worry about anything, that she could just live her life in happiness because there was nothing stressing her out. I wish that she had enough money to live comfortably, help our grandma live comfortably, and enough money to do the things that she has been putting off because she couldn’t do it. I wish that she had someone in her life that appreciated her the way that she deserved to be. I just want my mom to be happy.

So my brother and I got our mom something that we are going to unveil to her on Mother’s Day. Some of you may have already seen it (so DON’T SPOIL THE SURPRISE PLEASE!) and some of you haven’t. I’ll probably let you know where you can see it before mom can 😉

I also gifted my mom three months to Book of the Month, so hopefully she will enjoy that too! See, I love fostering my love of reading on to everyone I meet. Moms included.