Recaptured Moments

I remember my mom buying this tricycle as our family service when we relocated to another province back in our hometown.  I remember her buying this for family service whenever we need to go to school, town and so on.  The picture above shows a picture of my two siblings and me.  I don't know where my other sister was and why she wasn't in the picture. :p 

Anyway, another thought that came into my mind - I remember my mom always working for us.  I don't remember my dad ever doing that for us but not many childhood memories seem to stick with us.....  He is loving but he changed to a completely different and scary individual whenever he was drunk.  I wish he had dreamt and worked for a better future for his family and hadn't abandoned us... Anyway, wherever he is now, I know he is happy.  Everything happens for a reason....There are some days when I try to remember what I can remember with my childhood but for me, the fighting, shouting and other traumatic moments seem to be in mind most of the time except for some fun memories with my sister, my siblings and my grandparents.  We seem to be noticing the effects now that we're older, married and with kids or having kids.  We're scared of experiencing what we did when we were kids but those memories made me realize how brave my mom was - being the mom and the dad to four of us was not an easy job, but other than the extreme outburst of anger I believe she raised us really well.  We grew up without using or cheating other people just to get by in life and so on.

Now, she's never fails to encourage us, or get mad at us whenever we're entertaining negative thoughts regarding our family issues or family dramas. :)  With God's blessing, parent's and family's support and understanding, we're hoping that our kids/kids-to-be will experience a much better childhood and will retain a better memories of their growing up. Being a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, a provider and a lot more at the same time is not completely easy but I hope to be a better me on all of those. Experience is the best teacher after all.  With God, all things are possible... I'm sure our silent prayers will be answered in His time. :) - Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.(Hebrews 11:1)

My mom often recommends the book "Become a Better You" for me to read but I hope to save for my own portable library or e-book reader before getting a copy of the book.  Ipad is way too expensive for me. Any recommendation?