After the amigas left Phnom Penh for Hanoi, Vietnam, for the last leg of their tour, Mom was left behind to stay with us in our apartment for a week. Like a true dutiful daughter, I put her to work right away. First, I gave her a pile of clothes for her to repair. For someone whose mother sews really well (she made all her daughters dressing gowns), I’m quite ashamed to admit that I can’t even sew a button. So to work she went sewing buttons, putting on garters, cutting off pants which are too long, patching up holes, etc. Then, she also wrapped all our Christmas gifts and helped with the few Christmas decorations we had at home.

Read more in Toe’s Kurokuroatbp.