Mothers Day 2013

Dear Family and Friends (inclunding Online friends I have never met!),

There are many reasons why you may read this page.
There are many reasons that you may be a member of Amelia's Project page on Facebook.

Either you were already part of our lives - before diagnosis- or you have been drawn to "our journey".
Some people we have met naturally through education and sport.

Either way, you are part of our lives.

You have laughed with us.
You have cried with us.

Many of you have lived a lot of this experience with us.

The "community support" in my home town has been phenomenal.
It is something that took me a while to get used to.
Other people taking my child to school.
Other people picking them up.
Letting the kids "sleep over" earlier than I normally would.

All the things that I was so protective over a few years ago.

But today is Mothers Day in Australia.

At the very beginning of our journey, the outpouring of grief for our family was not only for the child that will have a shortened lifespan..........it was also for the mother.

ME.

It was for the father and the younger brother but it was also all of my friends, that were mothers or knew the priveledge of having a mother, that began such a wonderful support network.

Even though Amelia's Project has ended now, I still have a close group of friends around me.

These people quite often step in and "surrogate mother" my children when I am not around or have too many commitments at once.
(and Scott obviously, but I am writing this from a mothers daily duty point of view).

They may be teachers, friends or sporting coaches.
They may have been in our lives forever or appeared recently and really "clicked" with us.

They are so important to our family in our daily lives.
They are the ones you can "call on" when you need help.

In our situation, we need those people.
WHY?
It is hard to explain......
To keep us sane, to make sure everything runs smoothly and to present many wonderful people to our 2 children.
To show them a variety of people and situations.
People that like them, people that love them.

People that will help make sure they have an "amazing life".
People that also accept us with no judgement, ulterior motive or expectation.

Some of them have been there consistently since the beginning.
I hope that I am the type of person that will always be there for them too.

They know who they are.
They know we are indebted to them for our daily living.

To all mothers today reading this......

Happy Mothers Day.

Just remember, we are Mothers everyday and we are very lucky.

xxx