My mother never let herself get down. No matter how bad things were, she stayed cheerful. Even though we had a hard life, she still maintained the attitude that everything was fine. I remember her coming home tired from her job at the restaurant and saying that we were lucky. We didn't have a lot of clothes or toys, but my mother always made sure we had enough to eat. Her love and devotion for my brother and me made our lack of material possessions seem insignificant. Even today, if I were given a choice between having love at home and wealth, I would want it just the way I had it. I grew up poor in material things but rich in love. Since my father was never around long enough to teach me physical things or to play games with me, I didn't succeed in any competitive sport. My mother did her best as a substitute, throwing a ball with me in the lot(空地) behind our house, but it wasn't the same. She was too protective of me, and I didn't have enough confidence in my own abilities to really try anything physically demanding. The story suggests that the author is______his mother.