Mothers Day 2012
Published 13 May 2012Mother’s Day (mothers day? where does the bloody apostrophe go?) is almost over for another year and this year I got to help mum celebrate in a way I really didn’t think would ever happen.
I don’t know if that says more about my pessimism or what a turnaround mum has made in the last two years… but mum has honest-to-goodness gone a full 360; from rock bottom to being a picture of health. I rooly truly hope I’ve got mum’s genes, I’ll be a shoe-in to get a telegram from the Queen on my 100th birthday.
Yesterday mum got day release and I chauffered her to our place for a visit. She hasn’t been here since we moved in at Christmas time and I knew she was itching for a sticky beak. I got a hot tip that she was missing a good corned beef and we whipped some up in the slow cooker for a hot lunch.
Two years ago I wasn’t even sure if mum would be around for much longer, and here she is, out and about and holding court at the dining table.
For added bonus, I got to see my sister and her family for a quick hot chocolate yesterday.
We’re about to head out the door for Dan’s mum’s mother’s day treat at one of her favourite restaurants. Happy mother’s day to all the mums, new mums, mums to be and mums lost. Today’s especially hard for mums who have lost children; hope you find peace today.
Mum hoing down on a scone with fresh jam and cream
My sister ordered this at the coffee shop; had me wishing we weren't having a big hot lunch!
An Instagram from brunch
No Hallmark card will cover this genre
Published 7 May 2011I’ve tried starting this post about five times.
I want to write a nice mothers day post. But I can’t.
I’ve been going through my posts from this time last year. The ones from when I put mum into hospital. And then, seven weeks later, into the nursing home.
The posts that were too much for my family and I was told by them to unpublish or censor my words.
Ouch.
If you are lucky enough to have a mum who you can love unconditionally, who you can respect, admire, learn from. A mum who loves *you* unconditionally. Hang onto it. As tight as you can.
Tomorrow, tell your mum that you love her.
Please do it for me and the others like me who don’t have much to celebrate tomorrow.
In defence of alcoholics
Published 30 March 2011Earlier this year I had the opportunity to listen to a speech given by the head of the Catholic church in Australia.
He spoke for some time about sinners and how many live with the consequences of their sins. And then he referred to alcoholics as falling under the “sinner” category.
Excuse me? Alcoholics are sinners?
I struggled to keep my cool, but I managed to listen enough to hear him say that alcoholics are committing a sin by drinking to excess and that they live with the consequences of their sin with liver disease and brain damage.
Excuse me, alcoholics are sinners?
As someone who grew up with an alcoholic, I believe I have every right to categorise alcoholics in the same basket as sinners. But you know what? They’re NOT sinners.
Alcoholics have poor mental health. They have a disease, if you will. Like I’ve said here before about my own mum, “whether it [alcoholism] was self-induced (addiction) or an existing condition (mental health) is like asking about the chicken or the egg.â€
Understandably, the social and financial impact of alcoholism is huge – the 2008 report “The avoidable costs of alcohol abuse in Australia and the potential beneï¬ts of effective policies to reduce the social costs of alcohol” is actually an interesting read (or maybe it’s just me) and it puts the costs of alcoholism in Australia in the millions of dollars (whether this is an annual amount, I’m not sure – clearly my report-reading skillz aren’t so great).
I would dearly love to rant on for pages and pages about my experiences with an alcoholic and why I disagree with George, but I need to protect my family, who I have hurt already by being so open here about our mum.
But I am torn because I want to dispel the stigma associated with alcoholism. Because a lot of it is wrong and unfair. Alcoholics are many things, but alcoholics are NOT sinners. And someone with such high standing in a religious organisation should know better.
Amen.
Some days (like today), it’s easy to smile
Published 5 September 2010Thanks to my girls for the virtual hugs in my last (and now, looking back, somewhat embarrassing) post. I think blogging while emotional is a bit like blogging when drunk – best kept to a minimum!
I really really wish I could explain in annoying detail about what set off my three-day freakout, but it’s still too raw and upsetting to me and to those nearest to me who are non-bloggers.
One day, I might be able to share a Cliffs Notes version.
BUT! With a few days’ perspective, it’s been easy to smile.
Things that help:
- Weekends
- Going to fancy birthday parties with free food and drink
- Shoe and clothes shopping (sorry, credit card)
- Sleep-ins
- Raisin toast and home brewed coffee for breakfast
- Hanging out with good friends who you know know what’s going on, but know when to leave it out of conversation
- My fiancé of awesome (who will be my husband in exactly FOUR weeks, excuse me while I freak out) who still puts up with all of… this (imagine me gesturing madly at myself) and still promises to meet me on a beach three weekends from now and say “I do” (or, “I will”, we haven’t written the ceremony yet).
- Episodes of Glee (Squee!)
Glee is just awesome, isn’t it? Sigh!
I haven’t been able to get the song Smile (the Charlie Chaplin version) out of my head:
And it’s rubbing off on me. I have so many reasons to smile, and I feel so much better when I remember how to:
:)
Crying
Published 2 September 2010How effing cathartic is it to cry? As in, cry properly?
While it sucks that there’s a need to cry, it does wonders when you let it all out—snot and all.
Mine’s been brought on by a series of bad things, some more trivial than others. Each I could manage on their own, but when they snowball, then I struggle to keep above it all.
Above all this, I know things will get better. Soon.
This weheartit-style post is brought to you by my hormones. Normal blogging will return shortly. Promise.
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