Father's Day

This post isn't to bitch about my dad. I love him, I do, he's just been more of a silent figure in my life rather than an active one like a lot of dads out there. My parents divorced when I was 2 and a half, so I've only ever known my mum to be an active parent to me, my brother and sister.

When my dad lived closer, we'd see him every fortnight for the weekend. He'd take us out and do dad stuff, then take us back home to our mum until next time. When I was about 10, the visits got a lot less frequent, and after a series of strange events, he ended up moving to Manchester, a 5 hour drive from Essex. We now see him no more than twice a year, with phone calls every few weeks. 

But anyway, the whole point of this is to be able to celebrate the day with my mum, the woman who has raised 3 kids completely on her own, and turned them into respectable human beings. Imagine being left on your own after a stressful divorce, and not being able to have a breakdown or even appear to be upset, because you have a 5 year old, a 2 year old and a 6 month old baby to look after. I can't. 

She worked her butt off all year in a not-so-well-paid job, and cut back on spending money on herself so that we would all get to do the things we wanted to do (me and my sister to dance, my brother to play ice hockey), and to take us on a holiday every year. I never once felt like I missed out on any childhood experience from not living in a single parent family. 

My beautiful mother has lived her life for her kids, and I can't put into words how much I love her for that. I hope one day I can do something big to repay her for everything she's done for me. 

I love you, mama!