Here is my lovely mom (left – Kessela Mengistu) and her lovely sister (in the middle – Amarech Mengistu). This picture was taken on the same day yesterday’s picture was taken. My dad was sitting next to me (on my left side, you can see his cane) but he was sitting on a different chair because the sofa we were sitting on is not comfortable for him. So, I have to take two pictures to get them all.
If it was today, my mom would have at least five doctorate degrees without any exaggeration. She is a natural physician. She knows what is bothering you after she hears all your symptoms and she suggests you take something (eat or drink) to make you feel better and it works, most of the time. She is a psychologist and a therapist. If you are mad at someone and want to say something “hurtful”, just go to my mom and you come back being very spiritual and humble since she helps you see things into perspective. And, if you are depressed, just stop by at her house and you’ll leave with tears (not tears of sadness but joy). I’m not lying here. My mom is the most amazing person I’ve ever known. Her people skills are off-the-chart. She knows how to live with nice people as well as “not-nice” people. I don’t know how she does it.
And hear this: My mom is very funny! I can’t tell you enough her sense of humor. Talk about old jokes, she knows them all. Talk about old time stories (old tales), you have to hear them all from her because she has this gift that makes a story funny and interesting.
I love my mom very much!
By the way, my mom is the one who gave me almost all my nicknames, including “a moth” (Yesat erate – in Amharic). I think I wrote one article about that name.
From the zillion things I want to inherit from my mom, this takes the cake: Patience!
My mom is very good at waiting patiently for the fig tree to blossom, and she is very good at enjoying the fruit of the fig tree (“The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit” Proverbs 27:18).
So, as a person with close to “zero” patience, the one piece of advice I keep on receiving from her is this: “My daughter, learn to be patient. You lose nothing by being patient.”
May the LORD help me!
And guess what? God always says to me, “Be patient! Wait patiently!” Yeah, I need some prayers in this area. ///