Parents

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

• Some are unfortunate to lose one or both parents in their youth.
• Some are fortunate to have one or both parents in their 90’s and beyond.
• A few had a parent over 100.

Mother of Ivan Lee (M69)

Ivan is a Golden Sponsor for SPZP-2000 & SPZP-2007. He is an early supporter of the first RIT web site. He is a major donor for the 69er Health Care Fund.

He lost his father when he was young. His mother raised the children and also managed to stay healthy beyond the Century mark.

Ivan e-mailed us when his mother turned 100. It had the birthday card sent to his mother from the 43rd US President George W. Bush.

Ivan e-mailed again when his mother turned 101. It had the birthday card sent to his mother from the 44th US President Barack Obama.

We heard sad news from Ivan the following year. His mother passed away at the age of 102. She was alert until the final days. She played two hours of Mah Jong daily.

Let Oo Saya လက်ဦးဆရာ

I am fortunate to have parents who lived beyond 80, but not fortunate enough to have them around to see and appreciate my posts.

My beloved mother

She lost her mom a few days after her birth. She made up for her loss by giving her metta (unbounded love) and cetana to the children and grandchildren. She kept a list of all the birthdays and anniversaries, and would be usually the first to wish. Even though she had maids, she would get up early & prepare breakfast for us. She also supervised the homework of her children, nephews and nieces.

I paid homage to her in my Newsletter & Updates for SPZP-2000.

My beloved father

He was a youth when he was given only three months more to live by the then best doctors in Rangoon. He had a Near Death Experience. His younger brothers cried thinking that he had died.

My dad told his brothers : “I was walking happily along a bund when a holy man stopped me and said, “Young man, you have to do sasana work. Do not go beyond this point.” Sensing that I was reluctant to end my walk, the man pushed me.”

Luckily, an indigenous medicine man named “Ga Doke Saya Gyi” treated my dad and even parted some of his medical knowledge.

He built pagodas starting with Dat Paung Zon Aung Min Gaung Pagoda (ဓာတ်ပေါင်းစုံအောင်မင်းခေါင်စေတီ). His photo hangs in the Hall along with his grandparents who who bought the land where the pagoda was built.

He also helped renovate pagodas.

I paid homage to him in my Newsletter & Updates for SPZP-2000.

My parents

During my school days, they gave me 25 pyas as pocket money. They wanted to make sure that I study hard. They would give bonus prizes only when I excelled in the exams.

They provided us :

• Remington English typewriter
• Olympia Burmese typewriter

• Dictionaries
• Myanmar Swel Sone Kyan (Encyclopedia)
• Reader’s Digest Magazine & Books
• Student’s Companion
• A book for Idioms
• Grammar : Wren and Martin
• King’s English : Fowler & Fowler
• How and Why
• Fun with Mathematics
• Classics Illustrated
• Junior Classics Illustrated
• Bedin : Saya Maukဆရာမောက်
• Palmistry : Cheiro
• History : Second World War
• Sports equipment
• Bicycle
• Scooter
• Car

My beloved parents would have smiled to hear my grand daughter say, “Who’s your doctor? What happened?” after I returned from a clinic. She added, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I love you.”

She must have inherited the loving kindness of her great grand parents.

She won the Super Reader and Scholastic Achievement Awards. She loves Swimming, Soccer, Basketball, Singing, Playing music, Dancing and Painting.

My grand son is athletic. He plays competitive Soccer. He loves Cycling, Kung Fu, Basketball, Swimming, Piano and Video Games. He is sociable.

Poem and Song

I would like to share a poem and a variant of a song that I learnt in my youth.

Father (Poem)

Be kind to your father
For when you were young
Who loved you as friendly as he
He caught the first accent
That fell from your tongue
And joined in the heavenly glee.

Be kind to your father
For now he is old
His hair intermingled with grey
His footsteps are feeble
Once fearless and bold
Your father is passing away.

The version that we learned at school use archaic words like Thee, Thou, Thy and Locks. I have replaced them by the current usage : You, You, Your and Hair.

Mother (Song)

M is for the mercy she possesses
O means only that she’s growing old
T is for her tender sweet caresses
H is for her heart of purest gold
E means every thing she’s done to save me
R means right and right she’ll always be

Put them all together
They spell MOTHER
A word that means a world to me.

M is for the million things she gave me
O means that I owe her all I owe
T is for the tears she shed to raise me
H is for the hands that touch and hold
E means every thing she taught me
R means rare and special she’ll always be

Put them all together
They spell MOTHER
A word that means a world to me.

In some countries, there is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

For us, everyday is Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Parent’s Day.

Dear beloved parents, I’m sure you will be in the good abodes. I want to thank you for your unbounded love and for your belief “Every thing that’s worth doing is worth doing well”.

A1 Centurion

Posts

• Father’s Day
• Mother’s Day