I remember Mum as a kind, gentle and family orientated figure in my early years... and so she was. She loved her husband and family more than anything and made our house a home, filled with the sounds of laughter, the smells of wonderful home cooking and lots of cuddles and kisses for us all. I remember often finding Mum and Dad in the kitchen kissing and cuddling and thinking how funny it was at the time. 
She was always there for us, helping with our homework or getting up to us in the night when one of us was sick or having nightmares. I remember her having to bribe me with lollies to take my medicine. She was a wonderful knitter and I loved the jumpers and cardigans she made for me. She even made knitted baby outfits for my baby doll, Jenny and sewed outfits for my larger doll Leilani. She made outfits for us as well and was a whiz at darning our socks to make them last a little bit longer.
We grew up with a cat always in the house and these were her fur babies. She used to carry our cat Bonnie around on her shoulder whilst doing her housework. She loved cats and her love of them rubbed off on me. 
She personally knew just about every neighbour in our street and was involved in all the usual social activities of her day including Tupperware parties and singing (albeit nervously) in our church choir just to mention a few. I thought she had a beautiful voice. She taught Sunday school and I was her assistant for a while when I was old enough.
I grew up with the monthly gathering of the "Honeymoon Gang"...three couples that she and Dad had met on their honeymoon and who had become an important part of my life and were their lifelong friends. They all had children around the same age as us and we would play together while the adults socialised and prepared the food. We took it in turns to meet at a different house each time and I will always remember the laughter and  the smells of all the wonderful food that we shared. Everyone brought a plate and it was an event that we all loved and looked forward to. Mum loved to entertain.
I remember watching her doing her daily "beauty routine" and putting on her makeup. She would often look at herself in the mirror when she had finished and say "that'll do the old bag"!! I used to hug her and tell her that she looked beautiful. She always looked immaculate and would never leave the house to go out without everything in place.
I will never forget the time that she waited for me after school at the bus stop in the next street as she did every day and I did not get off the bus. Apparently, I had decided to get off at the local shop at the next stop and buy some lollies before going home. Well...Mum was beside herself when I got home totally oblivious to the panic I had caused her. She was furious but probably more upset because she didn't know where I was. I never did  it again.
I will always remember those 6 dreaded words she would say to me when I had been naughty..."wait until your Father gets home"! Those words struck fear into my very core and I would be banished to my room, sitting there in terror, waiting and hoping that Dad's bus had broken down on his way home from work because I knew I would get smacked for what I'd done when he got home. I was always forgiven afterwards though.
Mum used to let us go out in the yard after a hail storm with a plastic cup each to collect the hailstones that blanketed the ground. We would pop them in our mouths and eat them and then put the rest in the freezer for a while.
Mum used to let me help her to cook...cakes and biscuits were my favourites because I got to eat the biscuit dough and lick the beaters afterwards.
I recall watching Mum washing our clothes with a timber washboard and a copper boiler...later on in a washing machine that had a wringer on it to squeeze out all the excess water. She used OMO and PersiI washing powder and had those little "blue bags" that you put in the wash to make the whites brighter. She also used to use them on our skin whenever we had been bitten or stung by an insect. They helped to relieve the pain.
I would play with her wooden dolly pegs and sometimes draw faces on them.

These memories and many more are what I hang on to, to remember Mum by. I don't remember the sound of her voice anymore but the visual images are still clear and stored away for a rainy day and to pass on to my children and their children. This is all I have left of her apart from my family and a few precious belongings and photographs. 
 

 "Moreen was my first love & we began dating when she was 18. At 19 we became engaged & after 17 months we were married. At 21, Moreen presented me with the first of our wonderful children - Karen, Cheryl & Gregory. Moreen was a loving & caring wife & mother. We hoped for a long marrage but that was not to be. She was taken suddenly & unexpectedly when she was 37 after 17 wonderful years of marriage."