This is not posted in order to elicit sympathy, empathy, or any other reaction. I simply felt the need to make my feelings known.
My mother, who is 83, is in hospital. At this stage, we have no real idea about what is wrong with her. I won't go into unecessary medical detail- suffice it to say that she has had a number of problems in recent years. At any rate, there doesn't seem to be a clear cut diagnosis. Suddenly, I'm horribly aware that she may die, and quite soon. I don't mean that I expected my parents to last forever, but I suppose I put the thought of their mortality to the back of my mind. Being so far away certainly doesn't help. It's not often that I regret moving to Australia, but at the moment, I do. Phone calls and letters are fine, but in situations such as this, the distance seems horrendous. Although I'm 62, I feel like a little girl when I think of my mother. We have always been very close, and she has been an inspiration and a role model for me all my life.
She is a woman of her generation....brought up to be a good wife and mother; to put others first, but she bucked the system when we 3 children were old enough. She and a friend enrolled in pottery classes. I remember, to my shame, how we teased her about the lumpy ashtrays she would bring home. From the first day, she showed an amazing talent for pottery. Before long, there was a potter's wheel installed in the garage. Her glorious pots were taken to art school for firing, until demand for them from friends and family instigated a move to their present home - a 17th century cottage with a barn that was transformed into a professional pottery with kiln etc. For many years, she and my father worked together ( he retired from British Airways, as was ) with Mum doing the potting, and Dad glazing and firing the finished product. We were (and are) so proud of her...going from a "just mum" to a highly regarded artist.
It's some time since she was able to pot - years of working at the wheel left her with serious neck and back problems, but she has always been extraordinarily upbeat and optimistic. She's one of those people who would cheerfully assure you that she was fine, even when in agony. Maybe that makes her sound like a pre-feminist martyr, or a slave to her time, but to me she is a shining example of what people ought to be, but so often are not.
If you've read all the way through this, then I thank you, my forumates, for letting me ramble !
