Going the Extra Mile

​  -- By Arulnambi K.

Amma spent her entire life as a mother doing the very best she could for her children. My brother and I were deeply blessed to have a mother like her. Getting us educated, tending to our nutrition, teaching us life's values, helping us navigate society, even our recreation - all were done with her utmost involvement, passion and love.

A couple examples come too mind from Amma's later life of how she showed her love by going well beyond what could be expected in those situations.

My son and I flew into Chennai on August 2nd, 2010 in the very early morning, just a couple hours past midnight. Amma was in the middle of her chemotherapy treatment after having undergone surgery just a couple months earlier. It was between chemo sessions, so she was home. She usually came to the airport to receive us, and that was the very first time she did not do so. When we arrived home in the middle of the night, she was ready - cake in hand, candles ready - determined to celebrate my birthday (August 1st) only a few hours late. Chemo side effects be damned, she was not going to miss the opportunity.

​In late December, 2014, Amma's health was in a dire state. She was mostly bedridden, very weak and barely able to walk. I went to Chennai to assess the situation and get her medical help as soon as possible, as she seemed to be resisting it, knowing that her end was near. Before my arrival, she had still managed to drag herself to the kitchen and cook something for me in case I was hungry when I reached home late in the night. "I wanted to cook for you with my own hands," she said, knowing better than the rest of us that it was one the last times she would be able to do so. As it turned out, it was the last time she would ever cook.

Going the extra mile for her sons was second nature to Amma, past every trial and tribulation that life threw at her, and down to her last breath.