How time flies by...

Four years ago today, my Mum passed away. I can hardly believe it has already been 4 years... it feels like yesterday that she was still with us... Not a day goes by when I don't think of her... and although I have days where I miss her so much, I have reached a point in my life where I can more often than not think of Mum with a smile on my face and see her as my inspirational light. She shaped my life in my childhood and adolescence and even though she is not here in person, she still continues to influence and shape my life in motherhood. Whenver I have a bad day... which generally involves having a whingy, nagging child hanging off my arm/leg and I haven't been able to do a thing all day and I'm really tired and cranky... all I have to do is take a step back in my mind and think of my Mum and how easy my life is compared to hers... I don't have half the worries she had... and I only have 1 child to worry about, not 3... and as I think of her some of my crankiness goes away (even if the whingy child doesn't.. :p).

Having Mum watch over us keeps my life in perspective... I remember being pregnant and having morning sickness in the early days and thinking "Geez this is awful... but then again, it's not that bad compared with what Mum had to go through - morning sickness and being on boat and escaping from Vietnam... Not much could be worse than that!" My mum was amazing - I don't know how she did half the things she did... But I do know that everything she did was to create a better life for all her children... And I'm happy to say that she achieved that... I know that my life is good and that I'm living a "better life"... and I'm thankful for that every single day.

So Mum... I still miss you and wish that you were here to be a grandmother and see Elizabeth grow up... I know you would have loved it. And although she will never have the chance to meet you, you can be sure that I will tell Elizabeth lots of stories about you as she grows up... and she will know and understand what an amazing, inspiring person you were and how much you mean to me. I love you, Mum. xo