How nice. My Mum kept Housekeeping books from the day she married and recorded every penny she spent. It was only when she went into a care home that she stopped but I would still find little notes detailing little items like shampoo, hairdresser, steradent etc.
The major event in my Mums book was the payment to the Provident Collector.
And the Catalogues.
I have seen not having two Pennies to rub together.
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Memories of my Mum are a mixture of much happiness tinged with sadness.
My Mum died 7 years ago 3 weeks before my beloved sister, both suddenly without warning.
The happy memories of Mum are that she was beautiful, had the kindest face, was kind natured beyond measure, never had a bad word to say about anyone. She was so loving with a massive pure heart. Sounds like a cliche doesn’t it but all these words I have had said here are true.
The tinged with sadness comes from the fact my Mother suffered dreadfully with mental health problems. she was paranoid schizophrenic and had 3 breakdowns which hospitalised her. My poor mum was tormented in her mind yet she still managed to teach me how to be a good person.
My Mothers grandfather was a horrible man who mentally tortured my Mum who was the oldest of 3, the other 2 were twins and Mums grandad favoured his twin granddaughters but Mum was black sheep, he lived with them as they all grew up.
So even through all the mental torture and anguish he caused he didn’t beat the goodness out of Mums heart. Good on you Mum!
I wish Mum could have had the happiness in life she deserved, it’s also very sad that Mum was 79 years old before the doctors finally found the medication that stabled Mums mind. We had 3 years of a ‘normal’ happier Mum before she died at 82. I will never forget Mums words to me…Beverley, I feel normal. Thank you God for giving Mum those last 3 years. She slipped the net for many, many years just pumping her with drugs that did nothing but subdue her.
While this may see a sad post I know I was blessed to have the Mum I had and despite everything I have many, many happy and fond memories of MY BELOVED MUM
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That is a sad post LQ, a lot of cruelty can be dished out by those closest.
I wish I had the opportunity to tell that vile man what I think of him. But then, I doubt he would have been bothered. He egged the twin girls (mums younger sisters) to bully her too One of the twins apologised to Mum in later life when they grew into adults, she knew what they had done as children was wrong. Mum never blamed them though, she knew is was a learned behaviour, she was a forgiving soul.
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Yes, its the easiest thing in the world to pass bad learned behaviour through the generations, sorry is not good enough for creating a life of misery.
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Mum always loved animals - same as me. We had dogs and cats at home all my life.
Can’t ever remember a time without a dog in the house.
Dad could 'take 'em or leave ‘em’ though - probably more a case of just accepting they were there really perhaps.
In those days we had school pets of rabbits and/or guinea pigs, and I always got the job of bringing them home to look after during the school holidays and Mum used to enjoy that, too.
I think we had a fairly happy home life as kids, certainly much better than some have anyway.
She was an attractive lady, and liked to keep herself clean and tidy.
She didn’t talk about things easily though, things like feelings, or the birds and the bees etc, but I don’t think it was not so openly discussed in those days anyway. I guess she was quite private in some ways.
Mum was not much of a mixer though, and not the sort to invite neighbours in or vice versa, and when Dad died in 1997 after a huge heart attack, Mum became even more reclusive and did not want to socialise at all except occasionally with family.
When she was in her early 80’s, she developed a horrible type of incurable cancer and suffered for the next seven years until she died, steadily getting worse and worse. That, plus old age, affected her mind towards the end and I couldn’t seem to do anything right, inspite of trying my best.
Thinking about it now, I suppose it was a mixture of age, illness, and fear, but I wish it hadn’t been like that, it sometimes upset me a great deal and I was lost to know what to do at times.
Then one day, after a really bad fall, she was hospitalised then had to go into care eventually. It was a pleasant place, and I was able to pop in most days to be with her, and we always had Sunday dinner together. They even used to let me take one of the dogs visiting and that always used to cheer Mum up.
When I was visiting her one morning, and she seemed very odd, very agitated and ‘away with the fairies.’
I was worried, and told the Manager, who I got on well with.
I remember washing her face and hands and talking to her, but she didn’t seem to know I was there even, so eventually I went home, after telling staff I would be back later.
But later I got the dreaded phone call, to tell me she had passed away.
I went straight over there.
I will never forget that night.
Poor Mum. She was a fortnight off her 90th birthday.
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Same here, Rox 
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That is sad Pixie. My best friend at grammar school was very bright and very sporty and a lovely person. She came to school a year early because she was so clever and her primary school could not stretch her enough.
We played hockey for the school together and I was really shocked when I first went to her house and realised how nasty her Mum was to her. She snapped at her, bossed her about and made all sorts of conditions before she was allowed out. She had 2 younger sisters and she treated them quite normally and nicely. I felt really sorry for my friend and couldn’t understand it but I look back now and think maybe she was jealous of her because she was so gifted, although you would think most parents would be proud of that.
My Mum was lovely, but, stubborn as a mule, small price to pay for a special person.