Malaysian Woman Gives Out Flowers Annually In Memory Of Late Mother
While Mother’s Day is a time of celebration for many, it can also be painful for those who have lost their mums.
Whether due to illness or accidents, not all of us have the privilege of spending a long time with our mothers.
Unfortunately, this was the case for one Malaysian woman, who lost her mother to cancer during her schooling years.
Since then, she has turned her loss into an act of kindness by giving out flowers every year in memory of her late mother.
Source: @acapbad on Twitter
Woman’s gesture for late mother goes viral after man tweets about flowers
Last Sunday (21 May), Twitter user @acapbad posted about spotting a man clad in a traditional Malay outfit giving out free flowers at a shopping mall.
Source: Twitter
The man’s wife was with him at the time and she received a flower of her own.
While it appeared to be a simple sweet gesture at first, the couple was moved to tears upon realising the flower’s significance.
Attached to the orange gerbera was a piece of paper with a “Happy Mother’s Day” greeting and the following quote, “All the memories come back but, she never does.”
Source: @acapbad on Twitter
Below that, the person had also written: In loving memory of Norehan. Gone too soon.
At the very bottom of the paper were the hashtags #cancersucks, #cancersucksmy, and #rememberingnorehan, implying that the person had lost their mother to cancer.
The OP went on to share that the flower’s true meaning hit home as his wife lost her father in September last year.
Source: Twitter
Furthermore, his father-in-law had passed away from cancer as well.
Woman has been giving out flowers for 9 years
The tweet’s virality soon captured the attention of the brains behind the flowers herself, aka Norehan’s daughter.
The woman, Leah, replied to the OP’s tweet saying that this is an activity she does with her friends every year.
Source: Twitter
They have actually been doing this for the past nine years, which would have been 11 if not for the two years of Covid-19 lockdowns.
She also revealed that she lost her mother at a young age when she was still in school.
The idea for the flowers was inspired by an old tradition where she would gift them to her mother during birthdays and Mother’s Days as a surprise.
Source: Twitter
Now that she has more resources, Leah said she wanted to keep the tradition going and give them to other mothers instead since she no longer has hers.
Woman took a month to make nearly 1,000 cards for flowers this year
In an interview with mStar, Leah shed more light on her story and the making of the Mother’s Day cards.
In 2001, her mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. At the time of her passing, Leah was only 16 years old.
Looking back, she was able to recall that the first flowers she ever gave her mother were pink roses.
This year, she decided to put a spin on the gesture by making a card for every single one of the gerberas.
Its a wrap for mother’s day 2023..
See you next year, the 10th year aniversarry give out..tak sangka dah 10 years 😅😅#cancersucks #cancersucksmy #rememberingnorehan pic.twitter.com/fpB443ZqWF
— leah (@leah_ross) May 21, 2023
In total, she created nearly 1,000 cards and took close to a month to complete them.
Although much time has passed, Leah admitted she still cries every year when she gives out the flowers.
Those who receive it will also tear up, as some would be reminded of their own mothers’ passing.
Some who are mothers themselves would also wonder if their own children will remember them when they are gone someday, Leah shared.
Woman remembers late mother as strict but wise
While her mother was strict, she was always supportive of what Leah wanted to do.
Source: mStar
She also instilled a love for animals in Leah by getting her involved in volunteer work.
Today, the 39-year-old Leah has kept her mother’s legacy alive and well by running her own animal shelter.
“The advice I remember the most from her is, we can let others do harm to us, but we should not do harm unto others,” she said.
During her teenage years, Leah confessed that her mother nagged at her a lot. These days, however, that is what she misses most about her.
Hold your mothers tight while they are still with you
The death of one’s mother can be completely devastating, but Leah has shown that you can turn it into something beautiful by using it to spread awareness and love to others.
For those of you whose mothers are still alive and healthy, we hope this story reminds you to give her a call or a tight hug.
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Featured image adapted from Twitter and mStar.
