How Maisie remembers her Mum on Mother’s Day

“Mum was so crazy, unique and fun. Such a social butterfly, always on the move – I think I get that from her!”

With Mother’s Day not far away, Maisie explained what Mother’s Day now looks like for her and how she remembers her mum…

“I’m very lucky to have other people in my life who are mother figures to me. I’m close with my grandma and auntie so I tend to spend the day with them. I do still like to buy flowers for Mum though, keeping them in the house to look at and remember her. Or I might donate to ellenor as a way of honouring her.”

Claudine often came into ellenor for short-term visits, when her health would dip. These visits became more frequent until the decision was made for Claudine to stay at the hospice permanently on the ward.

“ellenor did so much for mum, but also for me too. The care she received in her final weeks at the hospice was just out of this world. You can’t put into words the level of care she received. I would have given my life savings for the treatment she had.” After Claudine died, Maisie didn’t expect to need any support from ellenor. But as time passed, she realised that counselling might be what she needed to process and understand her grief. “I couldn’t understand how I was feeling, but the counselling really helped me.”

When asked what advice Maisie would give to other people facing Mother’s Day without their mum this year, Maisie explained:

“Any first without your mum is hard, whether that’s a birthday, Mother’s Day or Christmas. Try not to anticipate how you will feel on that day, take it as it comes. Maybe try not to make plans and see what you feel you need on that day and, if you need to lay down and cry – do that. If you feel you want to surround yourself with people who love you, don’t feel guilty for wanting to do that either. Don’t feel at all bad for however it feels best for you to cope and get through the day.”

“If you can give anything at all to support ellenor, whether it’s a few spare coins from your pocket or perhaps even the money you would have spent on your mum if she was still here, it makes the world of difference to everyone at ellenor. You could be helping someone else’s mum this Mother’s Day by helping to fund the care ellenor provides.”