ESTHER “STARR” M. WEIGAND, J.D.
The saying that people who have less in life give more has now become a generally accepted custom of everyday life. Images of smiling individuals amid a backdrop of hardship come to mind from any village or town across the world.
To me, one image stands out. My mother, Ma. Paz Munson-Weigand, is a widow, having been left behind by her husband, Luis, who passed away from his first heart attack at the age of 47, leaving her to raise four children, all making their way through school, with the youngest just barely out of kindergarten. She flashes a smile and continues, eager to work through life’s uncertainties to ensure her children reach the top. A few years later, life throws curveball after curveball—two cancer diagnoses, diabetes, a transient ischemic attack (TIA), pancreatitis, and gall bladder issues. She also found herself losing her left leg due to a traffic accident in 2003. With all her medical trials, she now has one less leg and one less breast, and she no longer has her reproductive system and a gall bladder. Yet, she smiles, always ready to give to anyone who needs her.
She stands now, less several body parts and the love of her life, yet, somehow, in her eyes, she has the best. The best children (all college graduates and one currently a lawyer), siblings, relatives, and friends. So yes, she has less in life, but she has so much more than what she lacks. In my eyes, she is the utmost, the best mother, and a best friend.
