For those who knew my mother, you probably remember her as the first one on the dance floor or as the woman who wouldn't let you leave without eating something. She was a good woman, and though she had her moments, she had a kind heart.
My mother once travelled from Sri Lanka to America and when I asked her about her flight, she reported nothing out of the usual. It was the same 24+ hour journey with boring transits and never ending line of movies. A couple of months later, when she was back in Sri Lanka, a group of guys came to visit her. All in their 20s to 30s, I wondered how the heck they knew mom and what they were doing in my house. Turns out, this woman was in transit in Dubai and came across this bunch of random guys. They told her how they paid tons of cash to get a chance to work abroad and have no been stuck in the airport for days without food, since no one has picked them up. My mother then took this bunch to McDonald's and fed them, without ever knowing who they were or with no plan to ever see them again. Nonetheless, they came searching for her once they came back to Sri Lanka.
On another occasion, I walked in on my mother on the phone. She was telling who ever was on the line how there was a terrible flu going around and how they should either visit a doctor or get some good medication. The conversation continued for a good ten minutes about local holidays and other randomness, and then she says "So the cab will be here soon?" She had been on the phone with the Taxi operator. The man was terribly sad when he heard that my mother passed away and to this day, refers to my address as "Sharifa miss ge gedera." (Miss Sharifa's home.)
I miss the way we would lay for hours and chat. I miss the way she yelled at me for doing something stupid.
I miss her.
