Monday, August 15, 2011

Mother's Day in Costa Rica

Well I hope everybody had a great weekend, mine was a bit too busy to actually have time to sit down and enjoy it, but I'm looking down the barrel of this next workday with a little bit more confidence. This week is gonna be a little bit more active than most because I felt the itch to get some writing done finally. Kudos all you fellow bloggers who manage to do this seven days a week, 365 days a year, I don't think most readers realize how exhausting it can be to come up with something original to write about every single day. My hat is definitely off to you!

Today is Mother's Day in Costa Rica, and my fiancée Paty ( a.k.a. Dr. Girlfriend) gets to celebrate her second one of the year. One drawback of being the alpha male in a multicultural household is that the incorporation of two different cultures' holidays means you better keep one eye on the calendar at all times lest you get the dreaded "how could you forget?!" conversation no man ever wants to have. And it also sucks that they don't have Halloween down here, and I really wish the gringo population here would get together and market it a little better. After all we do celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the United States, why not Halloween in Costa Rica? But I digress...

They celebrated a little differently down here in that Mother's Day is actually a national holiday that everybody gets off from work. It's a day when you see entire families in the parks and plazas just walking around together, enjoying the weather while greeting friends. I couldn't help but fall in love with the way, Tico culture puts family in such an important place in their national identity, from the time I first started walking around and exploring down here. Whenever you see a family in the park, it's almost always the entire family right up to the most elderly in their wheelchairs.

The way we treat our old people in the United States is abhorrent, bordering upon a human rights violation in my opinion. If you don't believe me, take a day trip to a nursing home. So one of the things that I love about this place is the fact that the elderly have the right to die at home surrounded by family, and aren't left in institutionalized human dustbins once they become a "burden". I am actually comforted by the notion that if I am unfortunate enough to live past my bladder's shelf life, I will most likely be in one of my children's houses, playing video games and trying to stay as intoxicated as possible.

And the mother of my children (80% of them anyway) is who I have to thank for this. She gave me four gifts that I will always be grateful for in the form of our ridiculously gorgeous kids, and the way she has kept her beautiful heart the same the entire five years she and I have been together. This is a person who gets up at 4:30 AM every day, wakes and bathes and dresses four human beings, then walks with all of them to the local bakery because she likes that the kids eat their bread and tortillas just as they come out of the oven. She then comes back, feeds all four aforementioned humans, cleans up after them, and then wakes up her man with a kiss as he mutters and swears all the way to the shower. Mind you I'm not swearing or muttering at her, it's actually the impending work day that I am voicing my hostility towards. At least she finds it funny...

Throughout the day, she reads, plays, entertains, spends all of her time with the kids. She never takes a break. She never busts into my office demanding help. And she actually comes in and rubs MY shoulders when my own work day is getting a bit stressful. There is no possible way that I can ever be more grateful for a woman in my life than this one. And I am also thankful that I was given the foresight and the experience to truly appreciate her as much as she deserves to be appreciated. I will treat her like a queen until my last breath in this world. I try my absolute best to give her rest whenever she needs it as well as to help with the four very active kids in our lives. Time alone is definitely at a premium, but every once in a while circumstance or necessity permits us to take a little trip together into San Jose without the kids, and we always make sure to enjoy to the fullest. This is probably for the best, because our Pisces/Scorpio natures and her Catholic upbringing usually means that time spent alone we've each other can very easily result in more children. We are kind of wanting to hold off on that for the next 20 or so years until the current kids can start picking up that slack.

But I absolutely love this woman. Even though we are 13 years apart in age, I often times feel as though I've met a kindred spirit in her. She is just as curious about the natural world and just as passionate about her ideals as I am about mine. It is to her that I dedicate this blog post on my fifth Costa Rican Mother's Day, it is to her that I dedicate every single noble action I can make in this life as well.

I'm wondering if I should call and wish my own mother a happy Costa Rican Mother's Day.... Yeah I probably should. Maybe the allure of having two mothers days a year will be too much for her to resist, and she can finally move down here permanently....

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

So incredibly sweet!! Happy Mother's Day Paty!!! (I think she deserves two!!)

Zombie said...

Awwww! what a happy family! :)

April said...

Happy Mothers Day to your beautiful wife! You are both so blessed to have each other. I think they broke the mold with you. So if I move there I can have 2 also??? hmmmmmm

The Angry Lurker said...

You have a good woman and mother there.

Ray Rousell said...

Happy Mothers Day Paty!! Sounds like you've got a diamond there!!!

Sharon Day said...

Promise me that some day, a man will love me like that. Lucky lucky lady and kids.

Jay said...

you...you posted a hot pic of your girlfriend? on the internet? DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!

but seriously, happy mother's day and marry her. now. :D

Gloria Baker said...

OMG! I remember well when I take care the twins and I really understand her, in this time I dont have time to any thing! only the babies, the first 3 months I dont go out any day!! (only for the doctor) aah she is an sweet and amazing girl Happy day mother to your sweet wife and the kids are soo cuet! Love the twins too! gloria
You have a beauty family! gloria

DaleTheDoll said...

The best thing about humans are their moms. Good thing you humans stop and appreciate that.

Anonymous said...

Happy Mothers's Day Paty!!!

That is so great the country gives Mother's Day off!!!

And how beautiful is your family????!!!

Unknown said...

This is too cute. And too sweet. I seriously just got diabetes. (Sorry I had to use it!)

Your wife is SO gorgeous. I'm jealous of both her looks and personality. I'm not JUST saying this by the way. I'm a spoiled brat. Rotten to the core. Any of my ex boyfriends can tell you how I emulate a demanding despot most of the time. So tell your fiance that she is my role model. I hope to grow into a beautiful woman who can put others and the ones she loves above herself.

Seriously, I just got the impetus to change. I want to be a good mother, wife, and woman all around. And your subtle jape on Catholicism and having more kids made me giggle. Haha I don't know if it's coincidence since your fiance and I come from the same religious and hispanic background, but I want a huge family too!

Shera "The Expatriate" said...

What a sweet post Aaron she sounds awesome!