A Loving Mother

I did not know her really well, but would like to pay tribute to her, here. She was a married woman with young children, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In the time she had left, she spent as much time with her family as she could, preparing them for their lives without her. She wrote them long letters, setting out her love and giving the children advice for their futures. She provided her husband with detailed instructions about everything she could think of: daily routines, household appliances, contacts, places to shop. Perhaps most poignantly of all, when she knew she would die before Christmas, she bought and wrapped presents for everyone. After she had died, the doctor who had treated her, whom I knew socially, said that she was one of the bravest patients she had known. “She never complained about anything. She never said “Why me?”. She didn’t think of herself at all. All her attention and energies were focused on her family, so that they would be able to cope without her.” Wonderful words for a wonderful mother