The bond between a mother and her daughter is so special. 💕
This post was originally scheduled to go live on Mother’s Day, but my Mum has been my absolute rock during this crappy past week, and I want to shout from the rooftops about how bloody amazing she is and publicly let her know how much I appreciate everything she does for me!
As I’ve got older, my relationship with my Mum has blossomed. I know it sounds like a cliché, but she really is so much more than just a mother. She’s my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my ultimate confidant, my problem solver, my financial advisor and the person who knows me best in the whole world.
It’s such a privilege that she has been a part of every single one of my memories throughout my entire life. She has lived every day right by my side, and how many people can you say that about?
Even the memories she wasn’t directly involved with were experienced in a secondary sense (an example being my teenage nights out in town, when I’d call her from the taxi home and giddily relay the events of the whole night, snogs and all. Soz, Mum).
I literally tell my Mum EVERYTHING. There are absolutely no boundaries when it comes to mine and my Mum’s frank chats - she knows all of my juicy secrets! 🤣
At Take That 😍
My Mum doesn’t give herself enough credit. She once said that she was ‘afraid of her own shadow,’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth. She is a hell of a lot stronger and braver than she realises.
My Dad moved out when I was 15 years old and my Mum suddenly found herself a single parent to a teenage daughter. In a one-income household, money quickly became a colossal worry. Watching my Mum meticulously calculate every penny was heartbreaking. My Mum is infinitely generous by nature, and I know she found our new financial situation difficult - not because it meant she had to restrict and cut back on her own spending, but because she felt unable to give liberally to others. I hope my Mum knows that just having her endless support and friendship during those times was more than enough for me. I didn’t need anything else. Despite this, my Mum continued to put everyone before herself even if it meant she went without for the next decade.
In 2018, my Mum walked 10 miles a day to and from work for a whole month to save on train fares so she could buy my wedding dress. The extent of her generosity has always staggered me. She is literally an angel on earth.
In 2019 - after years of self-sacrifice and struggle - my Mum paid her mortgage off. It was as if a weight had been lifted. She was hundreds of pounds better off every month. My Mum finally started to live again, going on holidays (she even travelled around Malaysia for three weeks!), meeting up with old friends and treating herself to new clothes.
Mum and I went to London shortly after she had paid off her mortgage. We were in this little gift shop near St Paul’s Cathedral, and I picked up a sequin TY Beanie soft toy dinosaur, laughing with my Mum about how I used to be obsessed with Beanie Babies when I was younger.
Mum insisted on buying the dinosaur for me. I might have been 25 at the time, but it was more than just a case of my Mum buying me a cuddly toy. I knew Mum was proud of the fact she had money again and I recognised that she was keen to treat me.
I will keep that dinosaur forever. It’s a lovely reminder of such a beautiful time, in which I finally saw my Mum reclaim her happiness and her life.
Me & Mum putting the world to rights over a cake at our fave cafe near Kew Gardens 🖤
My Mum handled my teenage rebellion wonderfully. She had infinite wit and wisdom and never pandered to my sudden idiocy.
To be fair, I was pretty well behaved at 15 when my parents first got divorced. I think the most rebellious thing I did at that age was dare to read a few paragraphs of the latest Jacqueline Wilson book under the desk at the back of maths.
When I hit college, I well and truly made up for my years of behaving impeccably like a character from an Enid Blyton book. My novels were swiftly replaced with bottles of fake tan, and my fave pony was pushed aside in favour of whichever boy I fancied that particular day. I went out into town several times a week and spent my weekends at house parties.
Some may say my Mum had it easy... Let’s just remind ourselves that to this day, not a drop of alcohol has passed my lips! But alcohol or not, I did have my nightmare moments, believe me! I won’t mention the time my sociology teacher called home to complain that I was ‘ruining his life’ and sarcastically recommended that my Mum perhaps tried to encourage me to pursue a career that didn’t involve me aspiring to be a WAG...
Oh, and can we just stop to appreciate how COOL my Mum actually was when I was at college?! So get this... She used to allow me to have house parties... WHILE SHE WAS IN.
Like, most people were forced to patiently wait until their parents’ announced a spontaneous weekend away in Llandudno before whacking out a hasty Facebook group and inviting half the college round. The day after was always tense as twenty-odd hungover teens tried to restore their mates house before their ‘rents return, sneaking beer bottles into the neighbours recycling bin to deter suspicion and blitzing every room in ungodly quantities of Oust to mask the stench of booze, shame and regret.
But not round my gaff. No, my Mum was perfectly happy for me to have parties while she was actually home. My friends used to find it quite fascinating and were envious. One time, one of the most popular lads at college washed the pots and cleaned the kitchen mid-party, which cemented quite a bond between him and my Mum! Another time, two of the lads accidentally stumbled into her room and proceeded to drunkenly tell her that she’d ‘raised a fine woman.’
Mum got on famously with my friends and was always down to join in with the banter.
She’s not like a regular Mom, she’s a cool Mom!
I was 26 when I finally moved out of my Mum’s house. I’m not ashamed to say that I found it utterly devastating. Yes, I had spent time away from home when I went travelling and lived abroad, but there was just something so sickening final about packing up my childhood bedroom.
For 11 years, it had just been my Mum and me in that house. My heart shattered leaving her there.
I moved out at the back end of the first lockdown in 2020. I’ll be forever grateful to lockdown for gifting me with that extra time at home with my Mum. We spent the weekends leading up to my move watching Gavin & Stacey together. I can’t even tell you how like Gwen and Stacey we are! The similarities are uncanny!
That episode where Stacey moves in with Gavin just sent me over the edge. I tried to hide my weeping face from my Mum as we watched. It’s just the bit where Gwen hugs Stacey goodbye and drives away, leaving Stacey on the driveway... ‘Oh my Christ’ it completely ruined me! Watching that particular episode a week before I moved out was very unforgiving timing!
(... Cue Uncle Bryn’s insensitive-yet-iconic solo of, ‘LOOK WHO’S ALONE NOW, IT’S NOT ME, NOT ME!’)
I spent the first night in my new home sobbing uncontrollably. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that it went on for HOURS. I ate fish and chips, played shark Top Trumps and watched cute Togepi videos to try and cheer me up... Didn't work.
Don’t get me wrong – I was absolutely buzzin’ to finally be in my own place, but I knew that it was going to take some time for this new chapter to feel ‘right.’
I am now a 28 year old homeowner, but I still go to my Mum’s every Friday night and stay over. Her house is my safe place, and will always define the true meaning of ‘home.’
I wouldn’t change a thing about my Friday nights. I have an early finish from work, then I catch the train to Mum’s. We have a good catch-up about our week over a big plate of my favourite tea (homemade vegetable pasta bake), before settling down in the living room with chocolates, sweets, and a good film. It’s just the perfect remedy for temporarily escaping all of life’s crap.
Mum’s comforting presence makes even the most pressing problem dissipate into blissful nothingness.
Any time spent with my Mum is so precious, be it a simple film-and-Toblerone night at home, or one of our annual jaunts to London, where we dance the night away at the theatre.
I honestly do not now what I would do without my Mum. She is always there to catch me if I fall, whatever the time, whatever the situation. She is the absolute best at giving advice and is the kindest, most selfless person I have ever known. she just had this gift of making you believe that everything will be okay.
And I get to call her MY Mum!! How lucky am I?! 🥰
The bond between a mother and her daughter is so special. 💕
Afternoon tea at The Ritz ❤
Cara Jasmine Bradley
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