I've Walked This Trail Before

There is an old Filipino story that goes like this:

One day, a daughter decided that she was tired of her mother who was ill. And since she knew that her mother was ill and about to die, she came upon an idea. So one bright morning, she told her mother that they were going to take a walk to the jungle. Her thought was that she could walk her into the deepest parts of the jungle and then leave her there. She would be lost and never make her way back home. And she would be rid of her meddling ways. She was tired of hearing her mother's unsolicited advise and attempts to tell her how to live her life. She thought that she knew more things now because she was younger, wiser and more savvy. Her mother was old and did not know the ways of the new world she lived in. So she decided to lose her in the jungle.

As they walked further and further and deeper into the jungle, she talked to her mother about her plans for the future, pleasantly chatting away so she can entertain her....so she wouldn't realize that they were already deep into the jungle and far away from home. Though it was just a ploy, she suddenly realized that her mother may already know what was about to happen. She wondered why she didn't give her any clue that she knew what was happening. Throughout the walk, her mother, probably in an effort to pass the time, kept on breaking branches from trees and throwing these branches along the side.

When the daughter finally decided that they had gone as deep as they could so she can leave her mother there, she asked her why she kept on breaking off the branches. Her mother sat on the ground, tired, spent, resigned to her fate, said: to ensure that you can find your way back home.