Remembering my late Mum on what would have been her 76th Birthday

Remembering Mum on her birthday ❤️

My mum passed away August last year.

5 months, 2 weeks and 5 days to be exact - but who’s counting.

I am obviously as mums passing is on my mind everyday. especially today as the norm for today would have been posting birthday wishes on mums facebook wall, calling her up on her mobile and adding likes and comments to her facebook virtual birthday celebration event.

I would love to have the opportunity to call mum today and say how much I love her.

When a loved one passes away, grief is always there, the intensity just varies pending what’s going on.
Milestones & certain triggers amplify the grief for short intense moments - today is one of those days.
I know my whanau will be going through their version of the same. It’s just hard.

When I feel the grief take hold I eventually come to the point when I think WWMD - What Would Mum Do?

Mum would say:
“Don’t worry dear. There are people worse off than me”
“That’s ok dear. There is always tomorrow”
“Don’t worry about me. You’ve got enough to worry about”
and most importantly...
“I love you dear. Always will”

Mum and I were similar in many ways.
Sense of humour, strong work ethic, concern for others, stubborn, motivated and would give anything a go.

We were both believers in God too and it was this that led to many deep conservations and prayer sessions that I will always treasure.

Mum was a huge fan of Jesus and I could just imagine mum throwing her weight around in heaven right now.

Mums husband, John, is a fan of Jesus as well and was a rock for mum over the past few years. I love John and will always be thankful for God bringing mum and John together.

Today will be especially hard for John and we will all hold him up in our prayers today.
John will have many more milestone and triggers than I will and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose the love of your life.
It scares me to be honest and I don’t think about it for too long but it makes me cry out for John in prayer for comfort, peace and some sort of reconciliation.
Especially on days like these.

Not all my feelings are sad on this day.
Mum was full of life. Always was. Even when life was very unfair to her, mum would push through and focus on blessing others.

Mum, and John were/ are very generous and would always find a Moosehead to give away.
For those not in the know, a Moosehead in the Kingi/ Dixon family is a gift you give your guests when they leave your home. It ended up being a Moosehead competition which is one of the fond memories of last year.

There are many great memories.
Mum impacted so many people with her love, caring, giving and being available for people.
She is dearly missed.
Especially today.

Below is a video the family put together for mums funeral last year.
I couldn’t post it on facebook for copyright reasons even though I tried to contact the band to see if it would be ok. They were impossible to reach for such requests.
It has some great photos of mum during her life and some precious moments towards the end.

Happy Birthday Mum.
I hope there are plenty of yellow daffodils in your garden for today and you enjoy a nice cup of tea with your birthday cake.

Love you mum ❤️