Recently we've been tidying up the garage to make room for the wedding. I was going through some of mum's old clothes. I don't know how long you're supposed to hold onto them for. I've gotten rid of the ones I don't really remember her wearing, and kept some of the ones I wasn't sure I could just throw away.
While doing that, however, I came across a bag of stuff. Old cards, old photos, old receipts and user manuals and car service history. I found a really lovely photo of mum, back at her old school, with one of her old kids. She looked so happy, and that really was her happy place, with her kids. She loved them so much, wanted the best for them, tried to do everything she could to make sure that school was a good and safe place for them.
I found a couple of old letters she had received from one of her old friends, Pat. Pat seemed nice. She asked about me and when I was due. I was apparently due 3 days before I came out. She had moved to Australia. I believe she used to work with mum at Levene's.
I found a letter my mum had drafted to a hotel owner that had charged her credit card without her consent. I remember that time, it was a stressful time in her life. The story behind that was her and my nan had gone to Rotorua (or Taupo, I forget) for a wee getaway. While in the hotel, nan decided to boil some potatoes for dinner, and put the hot pot on top of the kitchen bench with no trivet. It damaged the bench, they told the hotel manager, the manager was cordial at first and then switched. My mum wanted to claim through her insurance, but before she was able the lady charged her credit card for the work/quote.
I found some birthday cards my mum had written me as a kid. She loved me so much. She was such a good mum. I wish I had appreciated that fact all throughout my life, but those fucking teen years are really shitty sometimes.
Found a picture of her in what would probably have been her second year of school as a kid. A class photo.
I miss my mum so much. Always.
