Missing my Mum
Sunday, December 14th, 2008 | Uncategorized
Earlier this year, I lost my mum to cancer of the oesophagus. She was 55.
My mum, Barbara Inglis, was more than just a mother to me. It was she who encouraged me to start writing, who embedded a love of words and language deep within me, and who gave me the tools (pens, crayons, paper, a typewriter) and the skills (reading fluently at 4, typing, storytelling) that made me what I am, a writer who can’t not write, who finds putting stories and characters and scenarios together more natural than breathing, whose subconscious will not stop whirring even on the rare occasions that there isn’t a pen and paper to hand.
More than that, though, she was also my biggest fan, and harshest critic. She’d tell me honestly what she liked, and disliked, about everything I’d written. I showed everything to Mum before anyone else. Though I have great friends to show my work to, it still means that every piece that I finish is painful.
Perhaps it’s because it’s the run-up to Christmas, which was always going to be a difficult time, but right now I’m feeling sad, missing my mum. I guess, just over three months since she passed away, the reality is starting to sink in.
One thing that I am pleased about is that I can look back at her writing and still hear her speaking to me. Not long before she died, her story, Out of the Night, came second in a competitions on the theme of Nightmares, run by Writing magazine.
Right now, a lot of things feel like a nightmare. But though I miss mum more each day, I am happy that I can look back on the gift that we shared with great pride.
2 Comments to Missing my Mum
That’s a really beautiful thing to remember your mum for. I guess in way everything you write is a tribute to her. She’d be so proud of you for following your writing dreams.
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December 16, 2008