Four Years

By Daviemoo

Four years ago today, my mother lost her life after a protracted battle with cancer. It felt a lot like a light went out in the world that day. It doesn’t matter that she wasn’t particularly well known on a grand scale- she was my mum and I cared for her deeply. Her death and the circumstances around it led me to where I am now in politics. The NHS was already overburdened going into 2020. Her chemo had been delayed and missed so many times, she was left waiting for painkillers and buscopan as her body was shutting down- the entire experience was horrific. And I envy those people who tell you their loved one passed peacefully. My mum was tenacious and clung to life even as it sought to kick her out- I knew she’d go that way, fierce and full of pride. But it imprinted on me exactly how unfair circumstances were for your average person. I miss her every day, but I thank her a lot for the lessons she taught me both in life and in death.

Ironically my mother would probably be somewhat frustrated by how I’ve turned out. A lefty she was not- kind and decent in many ways but certainly not a fan of how I am now- and yet I feel like she’d be proud of me for eking out the living and the life I have after losing her and for understanding the world and all of it’s problems as I do now.

Every day I relive the horrors I saw in that hospital room and I use that as fuel to push me in writing about, talking about, learning about politics and where it’s flaws are so I can push for better for us all. My mother wasn’t a perfect person- nobody is- but she taught me a lot of the fundamentals of how to be decent and I keep building on that every day, and I hope that stands as a monument to her. I hope if she was here today she’d be proud of the man she raised and the things I’m trying to do to make the world a little bit better.
Thank you to her, for doing her best with me, and I hope what she did, and what I do, means her legacy far outlives me, this blog and more and makes this very strange world a bit better, at least.