The longer I’m a mother, the more I appreciate mine.
As you know, they come in all shapes and sizes, and motherly approaches. Some love to do it; some do it because they should; and others just don’t feel cut out for it. Some are not biological mothers, but they willingly take on the mother role anyway. Some didn’t intend to become mothers, and did the best they could with what they had.
I was lucky with mine. She spoke kindly to us. She had gentle brown eyes. She raised us to be ourselves. I think I was quite a loud and expressive child, and that was ok. She became the main bread-winner, as a nurse, while my father stayed home, as the care-giver. When I was growing up, she was working really hard, doing night shifts, so she was often tired. In later years I realised how much she gave, to create our stable life. As a child I barely noticed. She cooked a yummy roast with gravy. She was quiet and polite, unless you were mean to her kids, in which case she became a wee bit feisty. But still polite. She snacked on salted peanuts (for the protein). She wore Nivea cream. And she played ABBA, the Beach Boys and Elvis on the record player.
I’m even luckier today that she’s my neighbour.
It’s easy to forget, but you are one of very few to carry memories of your mother from those years. So what do you remember about her? What did she look like? What were her favourite sayings? Did she wear perfume? What was her role in your family over the years? What did she bring to your life? How did you feel around her? What were her favourite recipes? How was her health?
One of the first ladies I wrote a book about had a very painful endometriosis problem. It wasn’t until her daughter read that book that she realised what was going on in her own body and had the courage to speak up about it and fight for support from her doctor. You never know how your memories of your mother might help future generations.
Would you like to share a picture of your mother, with five words describing her? I’d love to share them with our community of memoir writers.
My words about my mother are: Kind, quiet, loyal, musical, determined.
Write on,
Charlotte x
PS in honour of Mother’s Day, which is fast approaching here in New Zealand, I’m offering a 20% discount on my course Write Your Memoir. Now’s a great time to join as next Friday we’re meeting online to talk about book structure (a subject I talk about a lot in the course), and to share half pages of our stories.
Charlotte Squire 