A Mother’s Day post by Jessica Brennan

Dear Mum,

For Mother’s Day I thought I would give you a break from writing the blog this week.  Even though it is very hard to sum up a lifetime of memories in one short blog installment, I figured the best place to start was the beginning.

I know your first memory of me very well.  How could I not after 32 years of reliving the experience on every birthday? “At this time 32 years ago, I was just about to…” I’ll spare the readers the gory details!!  My earliest memory of us is playing outside together.  I remember crawling around the backyard, looking for bugs and rolling in the grass.  You were always willing to come outside and play, no matter what else you were doing.  Looking back I suppose this is when I first learned I could always count on you being there for me.

While we almost always got along, there were a few bumps in the road.  Notes seem to have played a large role in this, beginning when I was about 4 and you sent me to my room.  I wrote you a note apologizing and acknowledging that “today I beed a bad girl”.  You have since told me that this caused you to melt and everything to be forgiven.  In my teenage years, we had another argument.  I know that this sounds like a funny statement, but those who know us know we do not fight.  While I can’t remember what it was about, I do remember heading to bed feeling upset about the fact that we had fought.  I climbed into bed and found a note you had tucked under my pillow.  It simply told me that some days were worse than others and tomorrow was another opportunity to have a good day.  Suddenly all was well again.  I still have that note.

When I was about 6, you chose my dad. Like many other decisions you had to make for both of us, you chose perfectly. There were of course times when we would put you directly in the middle of our squabbles, but when things got tough our little family got tougher.  With you as our heart, there was always something we could find to be grateful for and to laugh about.

Speaking of laughing, boy do we laugh!! And unfortunately for dad, the majority of the time we can’t quite put our finger on why.  We have a strange mother/daughter language that nobody else is able to translate.  It starts with eye contact, followed by a snicker before full body shakes and tears rolling down our faces in silent laughter. When inevitably an exasperated dad says “what’s so funny?!”, one of us is generally able to muster up enough self-control to squeak out a “nothing” which, to be fair, is the truth!  Of course this creates a tongue click and an eye roll as he leaves the situation, and off we go again.  They say laughter is the best medicine, so we must be the healthiest people on the planet!

Even though you have always been my mum, you have grown to be my confidant, my voice of reason and my best friend.  On Mother’s Day we are all reminded of how lucky we are to have our mums in our lives.  You remind me every week by writing this blog, every day by checking in, and every second by letting me know that if I need you you’re there. For that I am forever grateful and I love you.

Happy Mother’s Day, Dear Mum!

xo