[Margaret Pilkington]

That is a lovely tribute to your Mum G.

My Mum....she is indomitable, has never let obstacles stand in her way. She bore seven children, so her life was always hard....My father was sick for a number of years after he was demobbed from the service after the war.......so she had to be mother and father all rolled into one...she was the one who put bread on the table.

Ma was strict...and if she threatened something she would always follow it through.....boundaries were not elastic in our house.

She could do anything with a needle but sew with it, but was a whiz at do it yourself and wallpapering.
Frequently we would come home from school and find all the wallpaper stripped from the living room walls....she had seen a bundle of wallpaper outside Joseph Bridges for half a crown and decided it would look just dandy on our walls.

Ma has worked hard all of her life. She looked forward to spending her retirement with my dad...it was not to be.......six weeks after she retired(at 65) she was widowed.

Since Dad died some 20 years ago, Ma has travelled all over the world(and recently this country)...this was what she and my dad were meant to do in their twilight years.

She was diagnosed with cancer 11 years ago, but has not let this diminish her thirst for life, and although she is much frailer(is there such a word), and relies on me taking her about in her chair....she still has a wicked sense of humour.

We haven't always got on, and for a few years we didn't speak........I have never been able to establish the reason for this........I know that during that time my life was poorer for her not being in it.
She has given me my perseverance, my sense of humour(like you Gary - we laugh uncontrollably when we are together), my sense of doing the right thing...honesty.....and the ability and desire to care.

We don't tell those we love how much they mean to us, and how much poorer our lives would be without them....so if your Mum is around...don't wait for Mothers Day to tell her. Make her feel special every day....because she is....Special.