This is the tribute I wrote to be read out at Mum’s funeral. I asked one of my Mum’s best friends to read it and I am so grateful for her doing so, I couldn’t imagine anyone else having done it.
“The last year of all our lives has been an extremely difficult one, but it has made me really appreciate the amazing woman and mother that Mum was. It helped me to recognise all of her wonderful strengths, and how they are reflected in James and me.
I can’t find the words to express how grateful I am for the relationship I had with Mum, how accepting and supporting she was, and how she had faith in everything James and I did.
I admire every quality that Mum has shown me, and she has every ounce of my respect and love. Mum had been through so many hard times in her life, but she never let this affect James or me, and was still the most thoughtful, caring, understanding and inspiring woman and an amazing role model. I hope that she could always see those qualities in herself, and she knows that people always tell me how alike I am to her – obviously I learnt from the best!
I hope I can pass on her love, warmth, and support to my own children one day, and that they will know that it came from her.
I am so grateful and thankful that she got to be my Mummy – and that she taught me how to apply lipstick! I will love her endlessly and I will never stop making sure people know how beautiful and lovely she is.
And I’ll never stop trying to replicate her chicken pie recipe.”
Feeling “Sueless” 