photo challenge #19 Potraits

Hello, Ladies here is what I have come up with. I have tons of pictures that I took of the kids but I really wanted to use these. This is a picture of my mother. She lives in South Africa. She was born and raised there. I am fifth generation Indian yet neither my mom or I have travelled to India. My mother has been to America several times to visit me and the kids. She is the strongest woman I have ever known. I really did not have much appreciation of her as a kid as most kid's don't. Today I see her for the greatest mom she was and still is. She is a pure joy to have in my life and there is not a day that goes by that I feel as thought I have abandoned her. I am the black sheep in the family. I have broken every Indian tradition there is. I eat beef, pork and do not follow my culture. I feel guilty yes but I still believe. Isn't that what should count ? On my first trip to the U.S the last words I heard before I got on the plane was " Don't go find a white boy " That would be crossing the boundaries in more ways than one. I grew up with apartheid but not a racist. To do what I did would break the Indian tradition and hurt the elders. Well I did just that. I followed my heart and hoped for the best. Luckily for me the wounds were able to heal for my family.Not only did I meet an American and fall in love with him. He is blonde, blue eyes and Catholic. We married in the catholic church after two years of dating. I kept it a secret the whole time. I never told of the relationship until a year after we were married. All hell broke loose and there were some rough patches. Well long story short all is well now. We got married over again in South Africa the Indian way. ( My life could be a hit Hollywood movie , it really could. This is a very abbreviated version ) My mom grew up with a step mother and worked in the sugar cane fields. She had an extremely hard life. She cannot read or write but can speak 5 different languages. She travelled on a plane half way across the world and has switched planes in major airports without being able to read. ( That is incredible as you know it is a scary thing even when you can read ) She sewed all my clothes when I was a kid as we did not have very much money. Back then fabric was not so expensive. She has travelled half way across the world many times now. She has opened her mind to many things. I am so proud that she tried other types of food like pizza, Chinese food and roasted chicken and turkey. She always eats Indian curries 3 times a day and when she visits me in the U.S she tries her best to fit in. She is even outside in the dead of winter playing in the snow with the kids. There is no snow in Africa. Hot ! hot ! hot ! there. If there ever was a person that never complained it is my mother. The strongest woman I know and love to pieces. She has suffered many losses starting with my dad when I was just four years old. She then lost two of my brothers that had Muscular Dystrophy. If you look at her face you can almost see her story. There is a hidden sadness and pain that nobody should feel. Also you will notice that she has no make up on. On my picture you will see a red dot on my forehead. That symbolizes marriage. A maiden would wear a black dot and it changes to red once you are married. My mother is a widow and has been that way for almost 3o years. She still pines away for her children and the dad I never knew. Everything I am today is because of my mother. Mom , I love you ! I hope you like the portrait.