Things My Mum Taught Me

My Mum Taught Me:

1. To sing.
   She loved singing and communicated that desire to sing, that joy in singing, to me. Thanks, Mum…
2. Love of music.
   I had piano lessons, pedal organ lessons, an accordion to play.
3. To be compassionate.
   My Mum demonstrated this regularly in her life with others, and taught me to notice and react with compassion towards anyone in all kinds of situations
4. To have faith.
   My Mum gave her heart to the Lord as a girl in the Salvation Army. She was not perfect but she was a true “soldier” in life’s army and I saw the fierce fire of love, hopes and dreams in her eyes and her smile that lit up her face.
5. To get an education.
   My Mum said this was vital and came before any kind of involvement with boys and relationships. The advice stood me through school and college and provided me with a career.
6. To work hard.
   Mum demonstrated and put me to task. Cleaning, laundry by hand and then with a wringer/washer tub, cooking, scrubbing floors on my knees, collecting coal for our fireplace, from the colliery (washed up on our miners beach), shoveling delivered coal from our coal cellar for the fire that kept us all warm, helping to care for my brothers and sisters….and, for my education.
7. To keep on keeping on:
   Determination. Demonstrated and encouraged. Despite the odds. My Dad called Mum “The Manager”, and indeed she was.

These things are what I am remembering now as I think of my Mum today, on Mother’s Day……no doubt I could add to this list, but this is what I am sharing today.

I just learned earlier today from Dave, my Mum’s husband (my Dad passed away in 1997), that my Mum is back in hospital in Perth, in Scotland, and they say that it’s not looking good, that her organs are shutting down….

I was thinking about Mum and decided to text Dave (my only means of communication with Mum today). I sent off this text…

“It’s Mother’s Day here in Canada, so thinking about Mum and the life she worked hard to give me growing up, all her good teachings, and the smile that would light up her eyes and her whole face.
Give Mum a hug and a thank you from me <3”

This was Dave’s response:

“Your mum is bàck in hospital today and ìt is not looking good they say her organs are shutting down will go and get some sleep as i have been at hospital all day”

I called and talked to a nurse at the hospital in Perth afterwards who said that Mum is on antibiotics by IV and currently “stable” but her situation will be under review by a medical team tomorrow. Their communications about that will be with her husband, Dave, tomorrow…..

Dave has diligently and devotedly cared for my Mum at home for years (since about 2013 when she became bedridden). I’m sure this has not been easy. He had help from workers who came in several times a day.

So Mum has been bedridden all this time and not very communicative, from arthritis burning out her body since 2013 or so (last time I saw her, for 3 weeks, in Scotland).
I wrote about my visit with her daily in this blog under the title “Journey with my Mum”. You can find those stories in a search here.

I basically said my goodbyes at that time because I had been called home from Canada to Scotland. The doctor had said Mum was dying and could go any time, a week, a month or a year…..so I made the journey home. Glad I did. Wishing I could have done more but my own growing family was here and my Mom and her husband lived in a very tiny house….

Just thinking about her and grieving a lot today. Waiting for news from doctors and Dave tomorrow….

Love you, Mum ❤