A mother’s retrospective

In celebration of Mother’s Day, Saipan Tribune has put together remarkable victories and memories of mothers who look back with a smile when asked about their children. Mothers will always have something good to say about their children and always from the heart.

“In the years after graduating from university, my daughter, Raina Klaver, has shown compassion and dedication that makes me so proud. In March of 2020, with the unknowns of COVID-19 and a cancer diagnosis of her beloved grandmother, she stayed with her grandparents and put her social life on hold.

Klaver

Throughout the pandemic, she worked in a medical office, went directly to her grandparents after work, and continued to study on her own. This summer she will be starting medical school with a goal to practice community-based medicine to help and heal. Being raised in the CNMI and then growing up around the world, she is using her brilliance, experiences, and empathy to positively make an impact in the world.”

—Karla Klaver, Tapochau

Cruz

“I have two children, both girls, one is 6 and one is 3. I cherish watching them take their first steps, go to school, and simply watching them grow. These are the most exciting moments that I have experienced as a mother. I am a full-time employee and, at the same time, I take my masters online at Southern New Hampshire University. [I am a] very busy bee but I manage my time to help my children with homework [and] extra-curricular activities. They love to go to the park, exercise, and go to the beach. I think I will be the kind of mother that even though my kids are adults, have their own family, I am still going to want for them to live with me.”

—Lanie Kay Cruz, ASE program coordinator, CNMI Department of Labor

Haberman

“My greatest accomplishment as a young mother to MariaKaiyan, 10 and KastleDanico, 8, is learning the values and virtues of patience, to love unconditionally, and to allow my children to learn on their own. Whether it be via a mistake, or a success, I want them to learn of their own accord. To support this viewpoint, I, as a mother, must remind myself to change roles and take a back seat to let things happen, but also be present for moral and emotional support.

“I enjoy seeing their happiness through their personal accomplishments. And I am also saddened when I witness their sadness. C’est la vie. I enjoy learning with them, laughing with them, loving them, and crying with them. As a mother we want to protect and guide our children as these moments are what drive me to keep pushing forward. I am thankful for this life with them both.”

—Maria Valentina Haberman, director, Community Development Institute, Northern Marianas College

Leon Guerrero

“I have seven children, all adults now and seeing them grow up was my greatest joy. It is an accomplishment in a way that it is not necessarily because it was hard work, but more of grateful. I am grateful that they are individually successful in their own way and also that they are good and responsible community members. It gives peace of mind as well that they have gone through good and bad things and that they are able to survive and succeed. To me, those are my great blessings,”

—Bertha Leon Guerrero, Garapan

Tenorio

“ I am a proud mother and grandmother. I love passing on what my mother and mother-in-law have taught me. Being a mother is hard work, akin to the role of a superhero. Sometimes people do not realize the effort put into the nurturing and caring for children to prepare them to have a good future. With my mother and mother-in-law , I appreciate them for teaching me the importance of education and I wouldn’t be at the point of my career right now if it weren’t for them.”

—Janice Tenorio, Customer Service & Government Relation Manager, IT&E