Yesterday during the intervals of learning HTML and XHTML on the laptop, I made a Happy Mother’s Day E-card for my friend’s mother with the help of Jasc Paint Shop Pro8. Because I don’t know HTML and CSS much, I couldn’t wholly design the E-card myself. So instead I used Google Images to spot potential jpg files that my friend’s mother might favour.
I remembered my friend told me once that his mother liked bears, so I thought why didn’t I pick something with cute fluffy bears? With different key words such as “bear(s)”, “cute bear(s)”, “fluffy bear(s)”,”telly bear(s)”, and etc, finally I found one that could do the job. It was a cut brown bear with a rosy top on, holding a wooden banner with a nice and cheerful look. The background was in a nice and warm rosy colour as well, and those translucent little cream coloured dots add to the card a tingle of change and vibrancy. Above the little bear there was a string of ribbons decorated with different sizes of hearts, spicing up the atmosphere of warmth and cheerfulness.
I used Paint Shop eraser to get ride of the words on the banner, and hand wrote the name of my friend’s mother on it in order to allow the card keep the feel of personal touch. Then by the left side of the card I picked standard font to write “Happy Mother’s Day” and then finished the card off with signing the card in italicized letters under the name of my friend and me.
Although the whole process sounded time-consuming, it only took me, as a novice, around half an hour, including the time of wording it and sending it off to my friend’s mother by E-mail. When I did all this, I only expected her to be surprised. But this morning after checking her E-mail, she actually was moved in tears when she stood at the staircase, talking to me about the card. It was as if the first time that I realized that you really don’t need to make others happy with horrendous efforts. A bit time, care, and effort oftentimes will be well sufficed.
Later while I sat at my room, I also realized that somewhere in the far part my mother was there and couldn’t see that her always rebellious daughter missed her. To her I am living at a place she would probably never be able to imagine. So naturally she can’t help full of worries whenever she thinks of me. I think it is somehow like the feeling of enlightenment when you actually physically sensed the distance of time and space: Your beloved family is somewhere, but somewhat you can’t see or hear yourself what they are up to. You will be torn especially when you hear indirectly they are unhappy.
Therefore I wrote this article to my friend’s mother, my poor mother, and all the loving and caring mothers in this world. I wish their happy life with fewer worries, if not none, but more cheerful moments.
