Senior citizen Azizah Bakar did exactly that when she met the Bernama team at her home in Kampung Keliyu here.
Her sweet smile belied the hardship she had endured in bringing up six of her 12 children who were born with disabilities, but she persevered, taking it all as what she described as a test from Allah.
Azizah, 70, said she had many sweet and bitter memories raising her six special children, namely Mohd Fairus Kamaludin, 43; Mohd Zulkifli, 40; Hazura, 37; Hatikah, 35; Mohd Shahrul, 30, and Mohd Azeem Asyraf, 27.
They were born mute and mentally challenged, she said, adding that two of them, Zulkifli and Hazura, could not walk from the time they were in their 20s.
“My first three children were born normal. It started with the fourth child, Fairus, then the fifth, seventh, eighth, 11th and the last one. The six other siblings are normal.
“It was sad enough when I got to know my fourth born was not normal, what more to have five other children with disabilities. I used to ask myself why it happened to me, but after pondering over it, I have accepted it as the will of Allah,” she said.
Despite not being as strong as she used to be, Azizah never complained and promised to take care of her special children while alive.
“Since small, they have never been away from me. They cannot be left alone or unattended. I always worry something bad may happen to them if I were to leave them. Because of that, I have never been anywhere. I need to take care of them.
“I am grateful that my other children are normal and they also help me to look after their special siblings.”
Azizah said she really had to struggle during the early years as the children were still small and needed attention.
At that time, she said, there was no welfare aid and the family only depended on the income of her husband, Kamaludin Embong, who is the village head.
“In the 1970s, there was still no welfare aid for persons with disabilities (PWDs). Life was really hard. Our regular meals then were just rice and fried eggs. Fortunately, these special children are not picky and they ate whatever was given to them and never asked for anything more.
“When they were little, only Allah knows how tired I was because of the close gap in age among my 12 children.”
She said that about 10 years ago, her special children began getting a RM300 monthly allowance from the Social Welfare Department.
Azizah used to feel ashamed and did not want to mix with other people because of her plight.
“Some of them asked me why I had so many children who were PWDs , but now I am grateful and proud to have been able to raise them well.
“Despite being born with disabilities, most of them can take care of themselves and they also help each other, as well as help me with the house work,” she added.
In conjunction with Mothers’ Day tomorrow, Azizah advised mothers, especially those with children who are PWDs, to always be patient, love and appreciate them.
“We need to have a strong spirit and show them much love. The children do not understand anything and they did not ask to be born that way.
“They are given to us by Allah, so we have to accept them as they are,” she said, with tears in her eyes, while trying hard to smile.