Mothers
I have heard that the most joyous thing a mother can experience is seeing her children happy.
Our moms were raised to be strong, quick thinkers, ready to act.
We can only hope that those of us who are going to be mothers, may grow up and raise our children to be the same.
An elegant grace that shows who she is. A woman who can speak when her voice should be heard.
These women are lebnaniya*.
They are proud.
Proud of their culture, of their language, their families.
These mothers don’t forget where they came from.
They give this same pride to their children. The love of Lebnan, the love of dancing and dabke*. The love of the language and the food.
We watched them raise us.
Hold us.
Teach us.
Our mothers are brave, but they are even braver because hine min lebnan*.
Who would we be without the influence of a mother?
Whether she is here now, or not, we will never forget what they taught us.
We know what they love and what they don’t. The good and the bad.
Would we be the same if our mothers didn’t show us how to act?
What we want to copy from them in our lives and what we want to shy away from.
Lebanese mothers, that I have met, have a tough shell, a thick skin to take what God sends their way.
They also have a quick wit.
We know better than to argue with them because we know we will never win.
We as children of Lebanese families feel an inner battle every day.
The pull between being Lebanese and being American. But even after all we do, we are still proud to be both.
If you were to ask who raised us this way, our fathers would look quickly to our mothers and say “it was her!” and our mothers? They would smile softly and say “akeed! Muzbot!” *
For the dinners you make us and for the places you take us. For all of you mothers who are here today and for those with us in spirit,
Thank you.
Translation:
"lebnaniya" -- 'Lebanese'
"lebnan" -- 'Lebanon'
"danbke" is a certain type of middle eastern folkloric dance
"hine min lebnan" -- 'they are from Lebanon'
"akeed! Muzbot!" -- 'Of course! You're right!'