Watching Mum die from a terminal illness was the most emotionally stressful situation I’ve ever been through. Everything that happened from 5th November 2017 (the day it had been discovered that Mum’s cancer had spread and was incurable), was so difficult that it is beyond comprehension. Mum was in a hospice for a few weeks duringContinue reading “End of Life”
Tag Archives: #mum
Christmas 2017
The last Christmas that my Mum was around for (in 2017) was a very difficult day. Christmas had always been something we cherished together. We had always loved doing Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, trying new festive foods, going to Christmas markets, making dinner, watching films together, driving around just to see Christmas lights, and visitingContinue reading “Christmas 2017”
1000 Days
This might sound like a super weird analogy, but working in Early Years Education for nine years has exposed me to lots of theories and research surrounding development. Early Years research has found that the first 1000 days of a child’s life (which counts from conception to age 2) is a critical phase for the foundations ofContinue reading “1000 Days”
Special Places
I was walking in Battersea Park the other day and I saw a bench with a plaque that was dedicated to a woman who had passed away. It was written from the point of view of her children and they’d written something like “Sit here and chat to one another, have a happy time, MumContinue reading “Special Places”
What have you learnt from the loss of a loved one?
Number 2 – Realisations in grief The second thing I’ve learnt since losing my loved ones is the realisation that not everything about them was good. People are people, they have good traits and bad traits, and dead people aren’t an exception to that rule. The things I would sacrifice to experience one more hugContinue reading “What have you learnt from the loss of a loved one?”
Emma’s Story
I recently invited my instagram followers to share their grief experiences/stories. Here is Emma’s account of how she lost her Mum, Karen, in December 2019. I lost my Mum last December to a butterfly glioblastoma. It’s a tumour that grows from the centre of the brain outwards, and looks like it grows within the structureContinue reading “Emma’s Story”
What have you learnt from the loss of a loved one?
A couple of weeks ago, Chelsie from Bereavedat22 tagged me in a post headed with the above question. It got me thinking about what I have learnt, and how I can grow and share to support others. Over the next few posts, I’m going to focus on the three main things that I’ve learnt alongContinue reading “What have you learnt from the loss of a loved one?”
Mum’s cancer diagnosis
It’s February 2015, it’s bloody cold outside, and Mum and I are going shopping. Mum had a routine mammogram booked in for that morning, so en route to town, we swung by the NHS screening van that sat in big Tesco’s car park, she got her boobies out, squished ‘em into the machine, and thenContinue reading “Mum’s cancer diagnosis”
Birthdays
On the drive home from work the other day, UB40’s Kingston Town came on the radio. It was the day before my birthday and that song is one of those songs that instantly reminds me of Mum. It hit me really hard and made me emotional. On my birthday this year, Sam and I wentContinue reading “Birthdays”
What gets lost in loss?
Before loss, I was coming towards a pretty secure understanding of my identity. As a person, woman, daughter, partner, sister, friend, colleague. Grief has changed, warped, deconstructed and rebuilt my sense of identity and self. Your identity changes when you’ve had a serious bereavement. Loss caused me to have a wide range of complex emotionsContinue reading “What gets lost in loss?”
Feeling “Sueless” 