SONS & MOTHERS
My mother may have been a lot of things, but she was never wrong! As
my three sisters were also never wrong, and neither was my resident Gran (mum's mum), our little terraced house was unusually loud. Dad, I and my three brothers learned the art of diplomacy and 'What Is Important' in that charged atmosphere.
Mum is dead now. She died 10 years ago of cancer after a long period of wasting away. In the last days I picked her up like a little child and carried her away from hospital so she could die at home in her own bed where most of my brothers and sisters were conceived and born.
The loss was insistent for the first few years. I would keep thinking, “I must remember to tell mum that.” We were poor and so she always took great interest in how the other half lived. I wrote home every week from Cambridge. Had I been to the Vice Chancellor's for tea? That was nice. So what sort of bathroom did he have? Even now I find myself standing at the toilet in Someone Important's house, making mental notes about whether the tiles are real or just pretend wallpaper. Mother made me a diligent observer of all life.
Women in their own right have had a profound effect on the world
as influential leaders - such was Mrs Thatcher. But many mothers who play no part in public life have nonetheless greatly influenced world affairs in small and great ways through the shaping of the minds of their sons and daughters.
Woman Alive monthly column
