My birthday always falls around Mother’s Day. Sometimes it is on Mother’s Day if May 12th happens to hit a Sunday. The closeness of the two occasions is fitting because there is a Korean tradition of honoring our mothers on the day we were born. We buy presents and give thanks to our mothers on our birthdays in gratitude for birthing and raising us.

I was raised as a young child in Korea, but our family immigrated to Maryland when I was 5. My dad supported our family by learning a new trade by owning an auto body shop in Baltimore. My mother taught English as a second language to foreign students at Patterson Park Middle School. Our home was in the suburbs, and our little adventures took us all over the Mid-Atlantic through camping trips and long drives that ended in a picnic.

My family stayed in Maryland, but I always had a case of wanderlust. I moved all over the country and at times returned to be with family again. As the years went by, I realized that my house may be in San Francisco, New York, Hawaii or Seattle, but my home was always where my heart was — with my mother.

On this Mother’s Day, I would like to persuade children of all ages to partake in this tradition of remembering our mothers beyond this holiday. We need to thank our mothers on our birthdays and every day we can. This means calling to let them know we love them and sending them a letter or card of appreciation. After all, the one thing most of us have in common is that we were all children and we were raised my mothers of some sort.

I know not all of us are lucky enough to have mothers who are still alive.

My husband, who was very close to his own mother, was shocked when she died suddenly of heart attack in her early 60s. There was so much more he wanted to do with his mom — to see the world together, to have conversations about life and aging. After the birth of our son, we wept together at the missed opportunity to share our little boy with his mom.

So let us say everything we want to say to our mothers and experience those moments with our loved ones while they are still here with us.

I have learned so much from my parents, and today I want to share a few of the invaluable lessons they taught me. There is not enough room in this newspaper to write them all down.

Thank you, Uhma and Ahpah, for teaching me the value of eating well. Our family had very little when we first moved to America. But my brother and I never felt our poverty because my parents saved all their extra money for food. I remember the overloaded shopping carts of produce, cereal boxes and TV dinners from Giant. Going grocery shopping was a lesson in bounty, and that carried through to my life as a mom.

Thank you, Uhma, for teaching me to never count my shrimp. As we became more settled, my parents had many dinner parties at our home. They would host these lavish meals to share the abundance they had. During these lengthy food preparations, my mother told me never to count out how many shrimp or drumsticks your guests will each have. Always cook enough food for everyone to enjoy seconds and thirds and to take food home to their family. This same kind of generosity was bestowed to us many times over.

Thank you for teaching me to live fiercely and march to my own drum even when it broke your heart to do so. All those times you told me to “Uhsheemee Sahluh” — live your best life — I took it to heart. I carried those words with me when I traveled the country alone to find meaning, when I wrote and published those thoughts with others and when I decided to have my first child on my own.

My dearest Mother, you are my role model in so many ways, my cheerleading squad, my champion of love and the best grandmother to my own sons.

Most importantly of all, you are my mother, my Uhma. Thank you for having me and raising me. I am eternally grateful to have been born to you and this family.

Soo Young Lee is an editor and contributing writer at www.challengenie.com, a self-improvement website.