Started out this morning being very frustrated. My mom was telling me how she exchanged the jade bangle I bought for her when I went to China a few years ago with one of her neighbourhood friends for another bangle. And she showed me what she got in return... it was a far lower grade of jade than the one I've bought for her...
Her reasoning?? She couldn't fit into the one I bought since she put on weight, so she decided to exchange it for something she could fit into. She even said that there's value in keeping gold but jade and precious stones have little value in collection. At that point, all rational thought left me. I couldn't believe what she did. She exchanged a jade bangle that was worth S$400 for some jade bangle that probably cost less than a quarter of that price!!! And it was not the money that was bothering me... how could she bring herself to give away something I bought specially for her, knowing full well that I bought it specially for her.
It is a pity that she couldn't fit into the bangle but the value of the item is not just in the dollars and cents. It was in the thought that went with the act of buying something expensive for her. I knew what poverty she went through when she was young and the struggles she went through to bring us up. She had always wanted a good piece of jade, whether it fits or not and never been able to afford it. I bought it for her, because I know she would love it. And she GAVE IT AWAY!!! Whatever happened to the value of love, of mother-daughter relationship that went with that little token from me??
I didn't know whether to be angry, frustrated or sad....
About Me
- kittyn
- Hmm... a little tough to describe myself... think wierd is the word. Hahah... being straight-forward and someone who can't hide what she's thinking / feeling... truth and honesty in friends is highly valued. :D
3 comments:
sorry to hear that babe, am sure it hurts a lot. i rem i was so mad at my dad when he gave away the electric shaver that my sis, mom and i had gotten for him... he could not understand why - to him it ws just a shaver. to us, it was the fact that we had given it to him. but i think maybe these things don't really occur to them. they have a whole different way of thinking.
*pat pat* sometimes mums have a very diff perspective....
when i was a kid, i made a mother's day card for my mum... she just threw it away... said give her for wat? not as if it's money.... to her it's just a piece of paper but to me it's my appreciation for her...
oooh well..... thru the years i realised it's not tat she dun love me, just tat she has diff value sys...
In the future, buy your Mum engraveable gifts only. And engrave on said items:
"This item is on loan (with love) from Sarah. It is not to be sold on to third parties and must be returned to her when no longer wanted, on pain of [insert horrible punishment here]."
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