A Daughter Shares Her Mother’s Love With The World
When something is on your heart, it’s best to answer the call. And that’s exactly what Aiea resident Danielle Lum did.
Her work, “A Mother’s Lesson,” was featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Forgiveness. It relates the 1987 story of her brother Bully’s passing and how her mom (Lorraine Lum) handled the situation with a caring heart.
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Lum recalled seeing the series’ call for entries right around the three-year anniversary of her mother’s death.
“I put the story together, and I thought it would be nice to share,” she added.
After entering her short story, Lum completely forgot about it until about four months later when she heard from the publishing company.
“I didn’t expect it to be in print,” she said, “but it was so emotional.
“It was almost like being able to share a part of me that I hadn’t seen before.”
Upon seeing her written work in print, Lum cried.
The waiting period was a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
“They told me that my story might be in, and then they told me that I got narrowed down, but it still might not go in,” she recalled.
But in November, Lum was notified that her story made it to press.
“It was like this secret,” she explained, “something that maybe wasn’t going to come true, so I couldn’t tell anybody.”
When she got the confirmation, it was as if “a dam burst.”
“I couldn’t tell enough people about it,” she added.
Lum’s love of writing started in elementary school when she attended Kamehameha Schools at Kapalama.
She explained that she wrote journals about her life, short stories and fiction. “And they kept telling us to read, read, read.”
Thousands of writers submitted short stories for consideration, and Lum’s is one of about 200.
“Just to know my mom’s story was that important to them to choose is a tremendous honor,” she admitted. “I would encourage people to love and honor the people that they have in their lives.
“Everybody has something to teach us.”
