LIFE as a mom, especially in this time of pandemic, is indeed a very challenging one. To those who were locked up inside their shelters, mothers have been pouring out unfathomable energies from dusk ‘til dawn just to turn the hours into fruition.
But how about our mothers working on the frontlines?
Now we unearth two stories from two fearless moms who have spent their lives on the fulcrum — where duty and family are on their weights from both sides.
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“I have always been a warrior in the field, I fear no one… but this pandemic is far different from those law violators I used to chase. Now I fear more for the lives of my loved ones that I might come home one day carrying with me the unseen enemy.”
This was shared by Police Captain Mary Grace Socorro Didulo Borio, a single mom of two adorable daughters. She’s currently in her 16th year of public service.
“A typical day now in this time of COVID is going home every morning with the fear that I might be a carrier of the virus,” Mary Grace told Panay News.
Her day with the kids usually starts at 7 a.m. (her off from a 7 p.m. duty).
She then shared this precautionary measure before entering their home: “I have an improvised bathroom outside the house to clean/disinfect myself before going inside. I just look at my four-year-old daughter, observing her from a safe distance before she will be brought upstairs to avoid any contact with me.”
As for her struggle, she said that since Day 1 of her COVID-19 duties, she haven’t slept with her youngest nor attended to her needs because of the fear that she might be a carrier.
“Better paranoid than sorry,” she said.
Work-life balance
“As a police commissioned officer and being a woman in a man’s job requires tons of courage. The service reputation that I have built for 15 years has cost me so many family times missed if not neglected in order to deliver results/accomplishments for the PNP,” she shared.
“Babawi na lang ‘pag may time na sa mga anak…”
She believes that every hardship in her journey as a single mom is being paid off by just the simple smiles from her daughters’ faces.
“Being a single mom is not that hard after all. Just stay focused on how to raise your kids alone; how to raise them as a responsible citizen; putting God as the center of their life; how to better provide for their needs and do your best on how to be a mother and a father at the same time,” she said.
‘To my fellow frontliner-moms’
As a frontliner, she said the only thing that she can do at the moment is to keep a safe distance from her kids to ensure their safety.
“It kills you that you cannot even hug or kiss your child when you come home from duty. She would cry because she wanted to be cuddled but all she can hear is ‘Saka na kamo to sa kwarto kay masulod na ‘ko…’” Mary Grace shared.
“Being a mom is a gift from God but being a single mom is a challenge accepted from God. Happy Mother’s Day,” she stressed.
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“Being a mother can be tough, but I always remember that in the eyes of my daughter, no one does it better than me.”
Get to know Augie Pesado, 25, a native of Brgy, Barroc, Tigbauan, Iloilo. She is currently working at Western Visayas Medical Center in the city’s Mandurriao district. She has a four-year-old, loving and caring daughter, Gieandra Lexxie.
What every day’s like
For Augie, every day is a new day and challenge to face: a day filled with compassion, perseverance, sacrifice, and dedication towards her work and family.
“I always perform my duty and responsibility as a health worker and I give my best in every thing that I do, whether it is in job or in my family,” she told Panay News.
Being a mom can be tough, she said. She had struggles in time management but she’s left with no choice but to fulfill her duties as health care worker.
“I work 24 hours in [the] hospital. I can help other people by performing the best that I can but it is really hard that I don’t have time for my daughter,” she shared.
“May mga times pa nga kinahanglan nga ginalingaw pa siya antis ko maghalin sa balay kay grabi ang iya talangison kun mabal-an ‘ya nga naglakat ko.”
Despite this, she was thankful for she can consider her child as dynamic.
“In her young age, she always thinks that I work in order for us to live. She even told her aunties and uncles ‘Nag work na si Mama para may bakal ko milk ko,’ as if she understands what she’s saying,” shared Augie.
Of challenges and strengths
“The hardest thing [I’ve encountered] as a mom is when you are far from your family especially my daughter. However, I consider that as a challenge because it gives me strength and dedication,” she said.
Augie also has a message to all frontliner-moms out there: “Just be strong for your family; continue to bring out the best in you by performing your duty. Always remember you have your love ones who are proud of you. Trust in God, this pandemic will end soon.”/PN
