A Special Person In My Life
“Through the mirror of my mind,
Time after time,
I see reflections of you and me.
Reflections of,
The way life used to be…”
The soulful tones of Diana Ross’s voice as she sings the poignant lyrics of her song, ‘Reflections’, are swimming through my head and I’m in a reflective and thoughtful mood as I think about Mother’s Day.
With Easter now over for another year, we start to look forward to our next special occasion with our family, the celebration of the beautiful mothers in our lives.
Many of us mothers will be treated by our family, possibly with breakfast in bed, a card, our favourite flowers and either a cooked meal at home or taken out for the day to our favourite restaurant. Many of us will include our own mothers in our special day, if they are living close by, taking the time to carefully choose out a meaningful card or find the perfect gift to commemorate the day, and through material means, try and express how much they mean to us.
As I do every year, I began preparing my upcoming blog on style suggestions for Mother’s day outfits, and about what the day means for most of us mothers in a traditional sense, however I couldn’t help but become overwhelmed with thoughts about my own mother.
I’m in a reflective mood, and you’re probably wondering why, so I’d like to share my thoughts with you…
I’m blessed to have both my parents still around. They live in a beautiful home in sunny Queensland and I take every opportunity I can to visit and spend some time in person with them. Being a busy mum myself, as well as running a full-on business, I don’t always get to see them half as much as I would want to.
In particular, I’m finding it harder with my Mum, I call her every day to find out how she is and tell her how much I love her. She tells me about her day and what she has been doing and I often get told the same stories a few times. You see, she forgets that she has told me already…my Mum has Alzheimer’s disease.
Watching my Mum’s deterioration is heartbreaking and it makes me all the more aware of time, and the importance of spending more time with loved ones. The importance of telling her how much I value all the things she did for me when I was growing up. The importance of telling her how much I love her and appreciate her for all she is.
With my Mum’s Alzheimer now rapidly advancing and taking her from me, my thoughts will be centred around past Mothers Days spent spoiling her with family time, presents and lots of love. I’ll make sure to call her three or four times throughout the day simply to remind her that it’s Mothers Day and that I love her.
My own day will also be filled with reflection on the love I have for my own four sons. As you might remember, three work in hospitality and will be busy on this retail day. I know though, that they will be on the phone to tell me, like I will tell my Mum, how much they love me. We plan to enjoy a family meal together a little later in the day. I have one son who runs his own business and I really look forward to spending some quality time with him!!
We all hear ourselves say, ‘time goes by so quickly’ or ‘where has the time gone’, and it’s Life – time ticks on regardless of whether we notice it or not. So this Mother’s Day, maybe give your Mum an extra big squeezy hug, or ring her a few times to tell her how much you love her, or enjoy every minute of being adored by your children, and enjoy your special day.
What do you normally do on Mothers day? Do you get spoiled or are you someone who just needs the space? Is your Mum still with you, how will you spoil her?
sue says
Having lost my Mum just a month ago, this has struck a very precious cord in my heart. She like your Mum had Alzheimer’s and while on the whole she knew us, it became hard and harder to watch the brilliant sharp mind dissolve into a blurry shadow.
After a couple of falls and the weight of caring for Mum, becoming too much for my 87yr old Dad, we moved Mum into an Aged Care Facility at the top of my street and each morning on my way home from work ( I’m a Nanny & only work mornings) I would call in and help her with her breakfast or just have a chat. The mornings she was good I would ring my Dad to say hello ( even though he would be there to visit in an hour or so. I would video chat to Dad with Mum and then ring and video chat my daughters so they could chat with Nanny too. 🙂 she couldn’t work out the technology but thought it was wonderful.
We hadn’t been a real “I love you family” but Mum in her last few months made sure we knew by telling us over and over 🙂 and we told her back
My last time with Mum was a morning I will treasure, told her she had was the best of Mums, that I was proud of her and loved her soooo much, she smiled such a happy smile. I Youtubed a couple of he favourite songs and she dozed off to sleep. While not “sick” Mum wasnt herself and to get the call to say she had passed away, was a bit of a shock .
Everyone will tell you to make the most of your time with your parents, please do.
Happy Mothers Day 🙂
Cindy Newstead says
OMG…….. I’m struggling to write as tears are streaming down my face!!! I don’t know what to say…………….so sorry!!!! love xoxxoo
sue says
thank you.
I still struggle and have tears now and as I wrote earlier and havent told anyone of our precious last time together as I cant speak the words, listen to Canon in D for an idea of the beauty of Mum & my last morning together.
Cindy Newstead says
Beautiful x
Veronica says
This will be my first Mother’s Day in 25 years that I won’t be able to see my son 😕 He has moved to Hamilton island to work as a plumber for 12 months (I know how he must be suffering) but I am sure I will get a call or Skype if he can get wi fi , but it’s just not the same. I will look after my mum and visit my mother in law and make sure their day is great . Until next year 😘
Cindy Newstead says
Veronica……….That sounds hard, I know how attached to my sons I am. I do hope you have a beautiful day!!! xox
Helen Davis says
Big hugs to you all! Now 10 years since I lost my gorgeous Mum, and I miss her like crazy!
Cindy Newstead says
Helen, Thank you and I know it must be so hard for you! Love and a warm hug coming from me to you. xox
Sandy Potgieter says
What a beautiful email Cindy. Your Mom is so lucky to have such a loving and caring daughter.
My Mom passed away 3 months ago on her birthday. A wonderful mother who will. always be loved and remembered.
Cindy Newstead says
Oh Sandy…….so sorry to hear this!!! I am thinking of you and how hard this must be! Much love to you xox
Christine says
What a beautiful post Cindy and such heartfelt replies. I feel for those who no longer have their mum or their mum as they knew her with them. As someone once said to me, when the mother of the family passes the chain of family is never the same.
My mum passed away in 1994 and I miss her so much, especially now that I too am a mum. My beautiful children never got to meet her and share the fun, love, wisdom and caring that she would have bestowed upon them.
Big hugs to you all. 🙂
Cindy Newstead says
Hi Christine, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I am so sorry your Mum is no longer here as I can only imagine how hard that would be. I at least still have mum to hug and shes very huggable! THINKING OF YOU XOXOX
Sharyn says
Thank you so much Cindy for the reminder to everyone to celebrate our mothers every single day of the year not just on Mother’s Day. My mother will be 90 in July. She is the mother of 6 children and her children have been and still are a major part of her life. Luckily we all live nearby and she sees most of us every week. She still cooks, cleans, shops and gardens for herself and gets herself out and about. She is just marvellous and we are so proud of her. I spend as much time with her as I can and treasure each interaction. Both my sons live interstate and won’t be here this Mothers Day but I won’t be sad because I can spend time with my lovely mum.
Cindy Newstead says
What an incredible inspiration your beautiful Mum is! You are all very lucky to live so close to one another, such a lovely gift she is in your lives! Thank you for sharing Sharyn! xoxo