Last night when I called my mom, she told me that she was cooking for a big party -- all my uncles from my father's side and their family were coming to lunch and dinner. Knowing that my youngest brother (cousin in the western culture) has brought his girlfriend home, I asked Mom how much she thinks the girl looks like me. Everyone who has seen her picture says that she and I look like each other. I had similar feeling too when I met her in person the summer before last one, only she is so young and pretty.
Out of my expectation, Mom asked me to repeat my question, two times. At the moment I was guessing that the girl looks even prettier to my mom than to me. Then Mom said, "How come you think she looks like you? She is not even close to your other brother's girlfriend. How could she be comparable to YOU?!"
I was first shocked. Then I hung up the phone and ran downstairs and yelled to hubby, "she does think I am pretty! She does think so!"
I never believed I was good looking, not even to my own mother. When I was little, Mom used to say that I had a face like a basin, the kind we used to wash our faces. As I grew up, whenever someone came to tell me something about my appearance, I believed that they were just trying to be nice, or at the best, I accidentally fall into their tastes. Now I am old and matured enough to not even mind this skin deep issue any more. But I never knew that it actually matters so much for my inner self how I look in my mother's eyes!
