Twenty Things About Mom

As Mother's Day approaches, my thoughts head in the obvious direction. I thought I'd share twenty things about my mom, a woman who has been a major influence in my life. It's a glimpse of her through my eyes. Here we go. She:

1. was born in Hong Kong and raised by her grandmother.
2. came to America, to live with her parents, when she was 11.
3. was given a speech therapist in school to help her speak English without an accent.
4. is left-handed, but was taught to eat and write with her right hand.
5. grew up in Santa Cruz, California.
6. worked in her parents' grocery store while attending high school.
7. stayed at home to raise my sister and me.
8. is a wonderful artist, but hasn't painted in many years.
9. played the guitar and ukulele when she was younger.
10. is a perfectionist and tends to worry too much.
11. is the glue that keeps our family together.
12. insists on biweekly family dinners at our regular Chinese restaurant.
13. always orders tofu fa when we have dim sum.
14. is the most talkative one in our family.
15. knows everything about the neighbors, postal worker, grocer, car mechanic and others.
16. likes to keep things clean and orderly because of her allergies.
17. buys gifts and cards months in advance and then forgets where she hid them.
18. loves taking photos and has more photo albums than I can count.
19. loves television. Ironically, she falls asleep during the shows and wakes up for the commercials.
20. loves to watch figure skating, but only if she knows the results ahead of time.