If there’s anything that 31-year-old Jemarisa Simpson feels for her mom, Femie Mariano, it’s sympathy: She was busy working in the UAE for 20 years and thus was never able to see Jemarisa and her siblings grow up.
“My dad was an alcoholic so the whole financial responsibility went to my mom,” said Jemarisa, who works as a cargo supplement coordinator.
“I think the most difficult part for her was to watch us grow from afar. Hindi niya kami nakita sa paglaki. But she kept on stressing that she would want to see us graduate in college. Sa amin naman ay kahit hindi na makatapos that time basta makasama lang namin siya,” she added.
As if the pain of being away wasn’t enough, fate had it that tragedy befall the family – the eldest passed on after graduation. “My mom’s whole world crashed,” said Jemarisa.
She said over the years of working abroad, her mom spent everything she made for her four children.
“My mom sacrificed a lot. She has nothing left for herself,” Jemarisa said, adding: “The reward for my mom was to see her children grow well. Now she has retired. Now I am here and showering her with love and support just as what she did for us when we were little. I gave her a little sari-sari store because she really doesn’t want to say at home doing nothing.”
