Thank-you to an amazing Woman

With mothers day looming I have found myself reflecting on my own journey as a mother as well as that of being a daughter to an amazing woman and all the trials, tribulations and celebrations we have gone through over the past few years and how we have grown to be an even closer and stronger family unit.

My mother has always been the emotional stronghold of the family, the one we could lean on and still do. She is also my constant source of inspiration especially when it comes to interiors and style, her motto of less is more and quality over quantity is something I always try to take on board, in fact she was actually the one who introduced me to Laura Ashely and Bodens many years back.

The thing that always blows me away is her strength which was really pushed to the limit when my father passed away suddenly 10 years ago. I was coming to the end of my somewhat difficult teenage years and entering my twenties and feeling a little directionless, while my mother had come to join me in the UK and look after her 95yr old mother while my father would join us for 8 months of the year and then would return to South Africa for the summer months. One minute we were going a long our business and next thing we knew we had 48 hours to pack and fly out to South Africa, 5 days before Christmas and with little information on what had happened. The strange thing is that from a dark period came amazing things and it changed the my life in a good way and also brought me and my mother even closer than before.

Around the time of giving birth to Mr A my mother was meant to be easing into retirement, although just like me we both struggle to sit still for long and she has been an amazing hands on grandmother to Mr A, baking, crafting and taking him on various outdoor adventures. She is wealth of knowledge when it comes to healthy cooking and has always kept fit and active, a way of life I hope to pass down to my children. We also respect each others space as we are both independent woman and we could be living on other sides of the world but our relationship would not change and I know she would always be there for me.

Right from the start she has put our needs first, from driving us to our many sporting activities or helping with school outings, sewing projects and homework and now even with painting and wall papering our house it seems like she has not stopped for some time for herself, which is why I am writing this post as part of the Great Railway Journeys mothers day competition as she loves to travel and has always wanted to visit Bruges, in fact it was one of the places my father and her had planned to visit in their retirement and I would love to take her to say thank-you for the past 30 years.

My mother and the family dog Sam.