This movie man… you know those kinds of media that change your outlook on things and leave you slightly changed at the end of it. Maquia is that kind of a movie for me.
When I was a 10-year-old kid, my dad went to the UK. He went there as a student in search of opportunities, much like the path I find myself on now in Canada. The cost of his pursuit, however, came at a steep price - all of our hard-earned savings.
As the months went on, it became painfully clear that my dad wasn’t destined for fortune. During this time, my mom stopped working to dedicate herself to me. Though her cooking skills are like that of a 5-year-old, she didn’t stop trying. Putting in so much effort and care only a mother could provide. Yet as the calendar pages turned, the money that my dad sent began to dwindle. Like a flickering flame fading into darkness, there were some months when it disappeared altogether. And with no savings to speak of, these were hard times.
I can still hear the hushed conversations between my mom and my absent father. She’d kindly ask me to step out of the room, but the walls themselves couldn’t contain the echoes of her desperate pleas for help. Those were the times when life dealt us a difficult hand, but as a child, the weight of our struggles escaped my understanding. Blissful ignorance shielded me from the harsh reality we faced.
Back then, just like Ariel, I was just a naive kid; reluctant to attend school, quick to complain about our meals. Yet, in the middle of all that, my mom never told me to live with what I’ve got. She always let me do what I wanted, but I sensed she carried a heavy burden. Because of that, I always refrained from spending more than I needed to. Sometimes my school gave me a chit of paper with a fee written on it for some project they were doing. It might be to build a pool or even for a class trip. Even if I got scolded for not bringing it, I never took it home.
In the tapestry of life, my mom, like Maquia, wove a story of selflessness. She did everything within her power for her child, even if it meant sacrificing everything she had. And looking back at it now that I’m living independently, I can’t help but admire that.