A Personal Remembrance for Mum
At the edge of goodbye, I stood unheard the youngest of four, yet somehow unseen. Mum slipped away without my knowing, and grief arrived quietly, as though it had been waiting for me alone. But my memories of her are mine, untouched, unshaken, and deeply loved.
Mum filled my childhood with music Cliff, Elkie and Neil spinning through the house, songs that still feel like home. I remember cutting lilacs from the garden to brighten her hospital room, borrowing her clothes for nights out, and her familiar, teasing “Ow much?” that could make anyone laugh.
She never got to see the young man her grandson became, a beautiful soul she would have been proud to know, steady, kind, and sharp enough to say “Ow much?” with the same humour she carried all her life.
To my siblings Janice, Pauline and Alan, each of you holds your own memories of her, your own paths, your own burdens, your own pieces of the woman we all loved. Whatever distance now lies between us, the truth remains: we were shaped by the same mother, and her story lives in all of us.
My small family will continue forward in love, in support, through good and bad, through loss and whatever comes next. Because love, even when unspoken, is still real. And grief, even when unwelcome, still belongs to me.
Sarah
24/07/2026
