Week 6 - Giving Life and Life Giving - Ryan Tong

When someone gives another person the matter of life, it is not just a means of having birth. Life includes the care, the love, and the priority of the child over oneself.

In Professor Valverde’s story “My Mother Not My Mother”, Valverde describes her true guardians as her “grandparents, the only caretakers [she] really knew.” This kind of mentality reminded me of my mother’s. Born in Hong Kong, my mother never truly had a mother, as she always neglected her. For my mother, her grandma was her true mother, in that she was the one who took care of her and loved her more than her mother did.

In both of these cases, both my mother and Professor Valverde felt more emotionally and spiritually attached to their grandparents. For them, their biological mothers were not even close to adequate to be the bearers of love and life.

Then what is good enough? Where is this line drawn, to be good enough to have received the gift of life. Are there certain circumstances, or is it different for every person?

Perhaps it’s more important to appreciate the life that has been given and to be able to accept the love from those regardless of who biologically provided the life that is used.

Works Cited:
Valverde, Kieu Linh Caroline. "My Mother Not My Mother." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.