Jing Zhang's Essay: The Change of My Life

Sunday, May 10th, is Mother's Day.  This is a special day in US culture to honor mothers.  We celebrate the many gifts that mothers bring to family and community.

Mothers not only give gifts.  They also receive gifts.  San Mateo Adult School Distance Learning student Jing Zhang understands this.  In this beautiful essay, she writes about the gifts that being a mother has brought to her life.

The Change of My Life

Fifteen months ago, I was an ordinary white-collar female. Fierce competition and intense pressure from my job made me live in a hurried life. I wake up at seven o’clock a.m. every work day and rushed out until half past seven o’clock a.m. I ran into the subway as fast as I could. After I transferred three times through tens of thousands of people, I arrived at my work building in a hurry. There would be countless calls from construction sites, suppliers, clients, cooperators. There would be countless unfinished drawings which were urged by several projects. After I survived from those, I was completely exhausted. I often went back home after middle night. How crazy those days were!

Fortunately, I was pregnant not long after. And I could never imaging my life fifteen months later.

 Now I often sit on the park benches, look at the blue sky, watch white cloud blown by the wind. My son plays. The sunshine of California is very fine, as they said. There is a clear river lies on my veranda. It always has lots of water birds floating on it. Several days ago, near my house, I saw eleven ducklings following their mother, searching for their food. My son watched and watched until quite dark. On our way home, we found their nest. But we didn’t find father duck either. I hoped it isn’t a tragedy. When I am holding my son in my bedroom, I always watch through the small window. I can see two tall trees. Sometimes they are swaying in the wind. Sometimes the crows caw on the wood-top. Those sceneries remind me of my childhood hometown.

My hometown is a water town on the southern Yangtze River. But it has been destroyed by modern society. You can only see it in your memory.

Forty months ago, I had no idea of what a mother’s life is. Now thanks to my son, I have discovered a new world in my life. My son can talk with me now. I am always surprised how exactly he expresses himself in so limited words. He can even make me laugh on purpose. I always wonder where does he come from, why he comes to me? What an interesting thing it is, to be a mother. But I couldn’t stop to sigh with emotion, how fast he grows up. He seems like a little baby in my arm not long ago. Now he can climb up the slide. He can run around the whole house. He can cry. He can laugh. He also makes me believe I had made the right decision that I gave up my job and chose to accompany my son. It seems my son make me stop to reconsider what is more important in my life.

Thank you, Jing Zhang, for sharing this essay with us.  Your reflections help us to see things more clearly.

 We welcome SMAS student art and writing.  If you are a SMAS student and would like to share something here, talk to your teacher or Teacher Cynthia.