"I just wanted to let you know that on Saturday morning at 6am my beautiful, beloved Mum, Eileen, passed into the light.

As I think you know, Mum has been quite ill since November and the last year or two have been very challenging for her.  She had poor eyesight and hearing and since November lost not only her mobility, but much of her ability to communicate (very challenging for a very articulate woman) as well as her co-ordination after a series of small strokes.

However she bore this whole period with grace and with many smiles and much love.

EVERYBODY loved her, including her carers who have been exceptional.

She was a truly brilliant, loving and generous woman.  Having had to leave school at 14 due to her Mother's ill health, she nevertheless was very well read and, as I said before was enormously articulate.

She bore and raised the six of us with incredible patience and wisdom and because she was so much fun and we had so many happy times and shared interests, she was also the best friend I ever had or will have.  I've loved her since before time began and will love her till way after it's ended.

I was privileged to be with her and to help her throughout her illness. I was also there and able to send her on her way when she passed and, although I'm incredibly sad for me because I will miss her, I am also delighted for her that she no longer has to struggle and I know the time was right.

In her time she was a fabulous Mum, a cook, a seamstress, artist (she did some wonderful pottery painting - bits of which are all over the globe), she was a great pianist and musician and hugely creative and playful by nature.
She knew when to express her point of view and when to keep her counsel (a skill which I have yet to learn!!).

She wasn't a saint which made her a wonderful human being and although I know I'll never lose her, the lack of her physical presence will leave a gaping hole in my life.

I know that there's been a big party in heaven (or wherever) on her arrival and I feel humbled and privileged to have called this woman my Mother and my friend.

Sorry for rabbiting on, but I wanted you to know a bit about her and it helps me to write about her." 

One of Mum's interests in later life was aromatherapy, which she started learning in her 70s.   At the start of her residence in a care home, she shared hand massages and her oils with the other residents, which meant she became known as "The Lavender Lady".

She was a fabulous pianist and with my Dad's love of words and language they were the perfect combination of Music & Lyrics.

Lessons I've learned from my life with Mum are too numerous to mention, but from her passing, I've learned the following and I expect this is only the beginning:

1. Positive thinking and being takes you through even the most trying circumstances.

2. If you give out love and forgiveness, you get it back many times over.

3. It's never too late to start learning new things and developing new interests.

4. There's always positives to be found - even in the direct circumstances.

5. From our darkest moments, come wonderful insights, discoveries & strengths

6. Accepting our situation and living day by day helps us make the best of what we have so we can enjoy each moment for what it is.

7. There are times when it's best to speak out and times when it's even better to hold your tongue, for everyone's sake.

8. If you love someone very much, sometimes you have to let them go and be what and where they need to be.

9. Love is the strongest power in the universe and even lives beyond even death.

10. Despite my Mother's passing, I feel lucky because she was my Mum in the first place, because we had such a great relationship and because I was with her to smooth her path at her passing.   Not everybody gets that chance.   I am truly blessed.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg.   Thanks Mum and I hope this helps some of you too.

With love from a sad, yet strangely happy, serene me.

Annie x