Things I remember about Mummy:
I remember when we were young children, Mummy always went all out for out birthdays. She made us (and often our cousins) - custom cakes - a cowboy, one year Raggedy Ann for me (along with stuffed toy dolls Raggedy Ann and Andy - Cheyne still has Andy to this day), a Holly Hobby cake, Ernie and Bert...and she always made custom pinatas to match! Her cakes weren't just covered in sugary icing, she mixed in Koolaid power to give them a little tart taste...no wonder today my idea of a perfect dessert is always a little tart, she set my tastes early on! I don't think we ever told her how wonderful and magical these birthdays were, and how amazing and talented her creations were...we were little kids too excited to stop and do so. Didn't everyones' mother make custom cakes and pinatas? I hope the squeals of delight at the bursting piñata with sweeties raining down told her instead.
I remember when I was in primary school I sung in the choir, and they put out a competition for a design for the choir uniform. Mummy being the mother that she was, submitted a design (of course she was going to submit a design for her daughter's choir), and she won! And of course, she wouldn't let the school seamstresses make MY choir uniform, she did that herself. Long after I left for secondary school, and beyond, that choir still sang in her uniform design.
I remember being a young child, we often visited Florrie at night. I have vivid picture memories of sitting in the front bench seat of the car between Mummy and Daddy, falling asleep with my head on her chest, and I can remember the sense of safety I felt drifting off to sleep on that car ride home.
I remember Mummy would make my school uniform skirts in primary and secondary school. Ugly, box pleated grey skirts....she wouldn't allow me to purchase from the school seamstresses as the skirt pleats "didn't sit right" - I can still picture her today, in her bedroom over summer holidays, making the upcoming school year's skirts - hand tacking the pleats from the inside so they fell right.
I remember when I was 9 years old we went to England for summer holidays to visit family. The day we arrived I ended up in the hospital with abdominal pain, which turned out to be an ovarian cyst that needed surgery. The times being what they were, they would not allow family to stay overnight. Even at that age I could recognize the sadness in her eyes to leave me there every evening until I was diagnosed, surgery completed and released to go home. Many years later, at the age of 30, I had the same occurrence. The day after the surgery was pretty painful - while friends and family wanted to call, to visit - the only person I wanted with me was Mummy. She never left my side until I was released to go home.
I remember when I was a teenager that Daddy and Uncle Victor had racehorses. Every horse had it "colors" - meaning the jockey wore satin shirt and matching cap in a specific design and color. I can still remember being in bed and hearing the sound of her sewing machine on a Friday night till 1 or 2 am, stitching the colors for a Saturday race the next day.
I remember when I was in secondary school, and then away at University in Miami, Mummy bred german shepherds at home. Mummy and Daddy would import the adults from Germany, and they would have to go through 6 months of quarantine at an animal quarantine facility before they could be release to us. I remember she was a mother to every one of those dogs. She visited them every day, to feed them, to bond with them, to make them feel not so alone. She trained them, she showed them in dog shows, she cared for their puppies and for every one of them like children. I think this is where I developed my love for dogs....I consider this such an enormous gift that she gave to me, the love and connection to a dog.
I remember when I was engaged to be married at 22, with little to no funds for a wedding. Mum and Dad were not yet living in the US, Robert was still in University. Mummy stepped up as she always did. She made my wedding dress, the bridesmaids dress....and the wedding cake. I hope she knew how simply incredible that was...what a gift to a daughter.
I remember how Mummy always made me a trifle for my birthday. It is a Christmas dessert, but I, and Rick, LOVED it...even in the years where she was so tired from chemotherapy treatments, she always made me a special trifle of my own for January 6. I missed that this past year, I will alway miss that special gift from her.
I remember Mummy's optimism and innocence...she always believed the impossible was possible, almost as though she believed in fairies and magic. I remember when she moved to Miami - every year for Christmas she would buy each of us a Lottery ticket for Christmas...and the rule was, if someone won they would split the prize with everyone else. When Kyle lived with them for a time he got one too. She always held on to the hope that a magical win was a possibility.
I have so many, many, many more special memories like this, I am sure all who knew her do as well. I have never known anyone so selfless, so caring, such a natural Mother. I desperately miss talking to her every day. These things I remember keep her alive for me. She is the most perfect person I will ever, ever know.
I would love to know what you remember about Mummy.
Wendy Mendes
