Mother’s Day weekend kicked off with a surprise virtual visit for Inter Miami player
Like many people separated from family during the coronavirus pandemic, Inter Miami defender Christian Makoun will not be with his beloved mom this Mother’s Day.
But he is grateful that he got an unexpected virtual visit from her on Thursday. Makoun’s mother, Hayde Reyes, Zoomed in from her home in Colombia while Makoun was being interviewed from his Fort Lauderdale apartment by Univision for a weekend feature.
An Inter Miami official set up the surprise, telling Makoun there would be a producer with her camera turned off during the interview. Makoun gushed on and on about his respect and love for his mother and then, asked what he would tell her if she were in front of him, his mother turned on her camera and he was able to tell her face to face.
“It was a beautiful, special moment to see that surprise they had planned,” Makoun said. “It filled my soul to know she heard how I feel about her, and I hope I made her Mother’s Day a little happier. The first thing she told me is that she loved me. We had a very nice conversation.”
Makoun and his mother communicate twice a day, he said. He wakes up to text messages from her, and he calls her at night to recount his day and hear what is new in her life. The video part of Thursday’s call made it extra special.
Makoun, 20, was raised by Reyes in Valencia, Venezuela, but she now lives in Cucuta, Colombia, with his brother. He didn’t meet his Cameroonian father, a former professional soccer player who lives in Belgium, until he was 18 years old.
All of Makoun’s childhood memories center around his mother, who worked two jobs as a nurse and social worker and sacrificed more than he realized to make sure he could play the sport he loved.
He recalls her leaving the house before 7 a.m. and finding his breakfast prepared in the kitchen and his schools clothes folded and ready. He remembers her helping him put on his first uniforms and tying up his cleats when he was in preschool.
He has vivid memories of his mother taking him to practice every day on a city bus, followed by a short walk together across a bridge and into the training grounds at Hermandad Gallega, the social club where he played as a kid.
Most of the other children at the club came from wealthier families. Reyes struggled to pay for the membership fees, uniforms, cleats and travel expenses — something he did not realize until later in life.
“She didn’t have the resources to buy me all the things my teammates had, so she would borrow, work extra hours, do whatever she had to do to keep me playing soccer,” Makoun said.
“I am very grateful for all she did. I remember the other kids’ parents would just drive up and drop them off at practice and then go pick them up. My Mom walked me in and stayed to watch every training session and game and then walked me back over the bridge to get the bus home. She never missed one.”
Reyes was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when Makoun was 6 years old. She battled it quietly, never letting her children know how much she was suffering. Makoun remembers going with an uncle to visit her at the hospital, only to be able to wave at her through a window.
“I never knew as a kid that she had cancer, they just told me my Mom was sick,” he said. “I passed the time playing soccer and riding my bike. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to go visit her.”
Although there were times when Reyes was barely making ends meet, she remained generous and provided for her sons.
“She would take food from her mouth to give it to me,” Makoun said. “Sometimes, we had arepas with nothing inside. We had moments when we had it very rough, but she always taught us to be grateful for what little we had. She gave us great values. She has been a warrior all her life, and I learned so much from her.”
She was his biggest fan during his eight years with the Zamora Football Club, first as a youth and then with their senior team starting in 2016. He played 35 games for Zamora’s First Division team, including nine in Copa Venezuela, two in the Copa Libertadores and two in the Copa Sudamericana.
He was captain of Venezuela’s U20 national team that reached the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup final, where the Vinotintos lost 1-0 to England. European scouts took note, and Makoun was loaned to Italian giant Juventus, where he spent 2018-19 with its U23 team.
He signed with Inter Miami in August 2019, the third player signed by the club.
“I miss her a lot,” he said. “When I was in Italy, and now, too. It’s difficult to be so far away from her. She’s a mother and moms are always right. Sometimes you think that things aren’t as they say, but in they end, they had a point. I try to listen to her always. She tells me to keep working because I haven’t reached my peak yet, I still have a lot more to accomplish.”
Makoun wishes he could be with Reyes on Sunday. He bought her a purse she wanted, and will call her.
“I will forever be indebted to her,” he said. “I would not be where I am without her.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 6:10 PM.