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Inspired by Usagi Drop (episode 10, specifically) and a flux of related posts. I was reluctant to sharing my stories at first, but reading other bloggers’ stories inspired me to finish up a post I had in mind a while ago for this week’s intermissions.

My parents and I weren’t always on good terms. In fact, we still aren’t really on good terms. I just had a huge falling out with my parents the other week, which was a bit of the reason why I wasn’t really in the mood for posts. But watching episode 10 made me remember a time where I appreciated my parents to the utmost.

It was back when I was living in China. I was quite young back then, so I wasn’t as smart back then. And by smart, I mean obedient to my parents. After doing a weekly swim in the pool with my dad, I came home feeling quite ill. My mother had reminded me to wear a towel, as I had to walk from the pool to the change room, which was an air-conditioned hallway, chilling to the bone. And of course, getting out of the pool was cold enough.

Putting off my mom’s advice as simple banter from an over-concerning mother, I just dashed through the hallway like the child I was. Back then, I tended to hide anything as simple as a nosebleed to a cold, since mentioning it meant occurring the wrath of my parents. I insisted my dad that I was ok, who insisted my mom that I was ok. My mom and her 5th sense noticed something off, and adamantly insisted I visit a doctor. To her disadvantage, it was two versus one, and her concerns were put off.

A few days later, my condition worsened, becoming much worse than a simple fever. Since China doesn’t really have family doctors in my area, I was rushed to a hospital, where I was diagnosed with pneumonia. For those of you that don’t know about pneumonia, it is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs. It was quite deadly at my age, since I didn’t have a good immune system at the time, and had the potential to do some serious damage. Alright, I could be overreacting. Nevertheless, it was not something to take lightly.

Adding a bit of religious undertones for TWWK, I do admit that as a Christian, my faith wavered a bit during the time I was in the hospital. For a little more than a month, I had to stay at the hospital and miss school. Since the hospital didn’t have the antibiotics that I needed, I had to be on IV and a respiratory breathing system for the first two weeks. It felt horrible. I had no clue what was going to happen to me, and it didn’t feel like my condition was getting any better.

I expected my mom to come in and say, “I told you so.” Like she always did. Like how she always acted, scolding me for not listening to her.

Instead, she stayed with me all the way.

For the entire month, she never left my side. She kept making food for me so I didn’t have to go through cold, stale hospital food, and she never once uttered a word of disapproval, nor mouthed a single complaint. She always gave words of encouragement, to not give up, to not be sad, and that everything will pass soon.

Not once did I see my mom with a look of fatigue or stress, but simply with a serene smile, giving me the assurance that I needed. My dad had work, but he’d always drop by after work to check up on me, and to pray together, as a family, that everything will turn out alright. It was then that I realized how much my parents truly cared for me.

Sure, this doesn’t end with a sappy ending. I did get better, but I still have my arguments with my parents from here and there. I did manage to write about my experience right after I recovered (I shall go look for it on the weekend).

But if this isn’t a display of parental love, I don’t know what is.

Check out other Usagi Drop inspired posts below:

• A different “Sick Rin” story 
• Kindness is real

P.S. Please, no anti-religious discussions here. Everyone is titled to their own opinion, but as I stand right now, I’m not your guy to give you answers or comments to all the questions you might have on religion.