Happy Mother’s Day!
Sadly, my mother passed away five years ago of breast cancer. This Mother’s Day I decided to do a painting in a single sitting in honour of my Mum. And this is it, entitled “Mother and child reunion”.

Mum was an amazing woman and to this day I still miss her. Fun fact, my artist name (Didi) is my mother’s maiden name, that I chose to use in memory of her. I think one of the greatest lessons I learnt from Mum was that there is nothing in life more important than the ones we love. Mum would always put family before everything else and that was one of the things I admired about her most. She had a long fight with cancer and it was her steadfast determination to spend as much time as possible with her family (especially her grandchildren) that drove her to battle through intense physical pain.
I never said ‘goodbye’ to Mum. Not that I didn’t have the chance, I was there when she passed away. I had wanted to say goodbye, but more so to thank her for all that she had given me in life. But when the end was inevitable it was impossible for me to believe that such a strong person would no longer be around. So I missed my chance. And then she was gone.
The first exhibition of my art was a few months after Mum died and in the lead up to the event I deeply wished she was alive to be there. But on opening night what I found was that, in a way, she was there and she has been with us since. Because extraordinary people who go to great lengths for others will always be remembered in the hearts of those they touch.
So look after your Mums and cherish every moment you have with family. They won’t be around forever.
And Mum, if you’re out there, happy Mother’s Day, thank you and I love you.