Mother’s Day is just around the corner. This week seems like as good a time as any to pay tribute to the important mothers in my life.
1. My Mum – My mother sacrificed so many things in her own life so that her own children never went without. Now that I live out west, I value the time I can spend with her even more. Next year my eldest daughter is off to boarding school in Brisbane. My mother is Head of Boarding at Clayfield College, and we will be sending Miss 11 to live with her Nana (and 100 or so other girls).
I’m happy that if I can’t have my children living with me, that they will be fortunate enough to be able to live with my mother, who is in fact ‘mother’ to many other young girls as well these days! Knowing my children will be in her care fills me with enormous love and gratitude. She is a truly amazing woman.
2. The Farmer’s Mum – After I married The Farmer, his mother has opened her home and her life to me. Living on the same property has meant that we have been in and out of each other’s pockets for many years now.
Not only has she welcomed me warmly, and gone out of her way to ensure that I have any support and assistance I require, but she has been the closest thing I have to my own mother over the past 13 or so years. She has also been a second mother to my own children. I have been very lucky.
3. Granny – She’s actually The Farmer’s Granny. Pretty much everyone I know calls her ‘Granny’. She is one of the most incredible women I have ever met. She is closing in on a century, and there is not much she hasn’t seen over the course of her life.
She is loaded with love and compassion for people, and a knowledge and passion for life on the land. Having no surviving grandparents of my own, I am incredibly thankful for being able to have Granny in my life. She is an inspiration.
4. The mothers of my children’s friends – Living in a rural community such as this, it is only with the support of other mothers that I am able to live and work to the extent that I do.
We rely on each other to transport and babysit children, take them for weekends and feed them if we can’t do it ourselves. Time and distance is always an issue! I thank and salute all of you.
This Mother’s Day is not about gifts or spending money. I will be taking the time to acknowledge all the women who spend their days thinking about others. My day will be spent with my family, before the onslaught of shearing descends upon us. Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere.
What is your favourite memory of your mother? Let me know at Facebook: The Farmer’s Wife, Instagram: @jessthefarmerswife, Twitter: @jessfarmerswife
