Hello!

74 Comments

As a mum, when you no longer have your mum, you miss out on so much more than you realise.

I’ve been a motherless daughter for many years now.

My Mum died when she was 56. I was old enough to be an adult but not old enough to have an adult relationship with her. I think she’d like the ‘me’ I am now, more than the one she knew. Still…

There are many things you miss out on as a motherless daughter.

Mother’s Day for example is a weird kind of day, because as a mum it’s all about your kids celebrating you as a mum, but you can’t celebrate having a mum. My Dad, bless him, forgets most major events, birthdays, Christmases but he always remembers to give my sister and I a call on Mother’s Day.

But there are many things that just sneak up and remind you what you’re missing. I recently spent a lovely and long overdue time with my sister and her family in Brisbane. She’s my big sister, and over many years and many bottles of wine we’ve analysed the life and death of our complex mother many times over.

You can’t be victims when you’ve lost a parent because the rest of your life is a long time to sulk.

So we don’t talk about ourselves or our children and our loss, but we do like talking about our mum.



Our mum used to love cooking.  We lived in different cities, but if I needed to know how to make something, I would call Mum.  “Mum, I’m trying to make a lasagna, how do I make a cheese sauce?” “Mum, what cut of meat should I buy for a casserole?” “Mum, how do I get the fat off the top of the pan when I’m making a gravy? And what do you put in your gravy?”

Mum would always sigh a little as if “how do you girls not know how to make gravy?” but then she’d tell me as I scribbled her recipe on a piece of scrap paper I’d promptly lose.

But one of the casualties of losing your mum is you lose that rich knowledge about how to do stuff that parents are supposed to pass down to their kids so you can pass it on to yours.

I was poaching an egg while I was staying at my sisters. “Don’t you put vinegar in your water when you’re poaching eggs?” she asked me. I’d never heard of such a thing. “It keeps the egg whites together. I always use white vinegar because it doesn’t discolour the eggs or taint them too much.”

Since that moment, I’ve always added vinegar to the water I poach my eggs in.  And they’re bloody perfect.

While I was there, my sister was roasting a lamb. She asked me “how do you make your gravy?” “I usually use a mix and add some bits to it,” I admitted. “Me too,” she said. “Mum always made a good gravy.”

When you’ve lost your mum, it’s not just her company that you miss.

Share your thoughts below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com
We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • Ive lost both my parents and two brothers.
    So many times I will think of something and wish that one of them was here to ask but I refuse to feel sad when i think about them as i always feel that me being sad would be awful for them. I always think of them with love and a smile.

    Reply

  • Mums are priceless. Great you have a sister to share things.

    Reply

  • Losing my mum was one of the greatest losses I have ever experienced. It was only ever her and I as a little family. I lost my mum when I was an adult (28 years old). I had my own little family – but I still felt the loss greatly. She was only 56 years old and I still felt like I needed her. I do feel so blessed though that I had 28 wonderful years with an amazing woman like her as my mother, and I am so grateful my two eldest children got to have quality time with her and have wonderful memories of her.

    Reply

  • My mum died in February this year. At the moment I just miss her being close by to visit. Unfortunately over the twelve months before her passing communication was difficult so I kind of lost the chance to ask her and talk with her before she passed.

    Reply

  • I am so very sorry for all of your losses!
    My mum was 25 when she passed away. I was 18 months old.
    I miss my mum, I miss being able to speak to her, hear her voice, know what her favorite things are. I just wish I knew more about her.
    I often wonder what would be the hardest, knowing or not knowing her. :(

    Reply

  • I lost my mum when I was 32. It is something you never fully get over.

    Reply

  • I haven’t been able to see my Mum for a few months now, due to covid. It’s killing me how much I miss her. The phone calls aren’t nearly enough :(

    Reply

  • My mum has been gone for over 20 years now and I still go to pick up the phone and call her to ask for some of her very wise advice but catch myself in time. My mum was 56 when she died and missed out on seeing her Grand-Children grow up and become parents themselves. I still miss her daily people say it gets easier I wonder have they lost their mum as I dont think it is any easier.

    Reply

  • Unfortunately it doesnt get easier. I miss my mum so much. I can talk about her without crying now but it is so hard. I wish she was here to hold my newborn son.

    Reply

  • Sorry for you loss – and do sort of know how you feel. It doesn’t matter what age your mum was when she passes, or what age you were, it is still a loss that you often feel keenly. Never had that sort of relationship with my mum about cooking and the few recipes I did manage to get her to give me, she left something out so I could never make them – thank heavens for Google, I got a similar recipe and could put in the missing ingredient. My mum died a couple of weeks short of 100, and I was in my 60’s then – but I have always made sure that anything my daughters want as far as a recipe is concerned is spot on for them. Guess she taught me something after all.

    Reply

  • I lost my mum 4 years ago now and I would have to say that I dont enjoy Mothers Day or Christmas as much now its just not the same especially Christmas as it was her thing she would go to so much trouble having everything perfect for Christmas

    Reply

  • My mum was a nurse ands a good cook. She wrote many of her recipes down. Fortunately my sister remembers things I Need that i may have forgotten.

    Reply

  • Mum didn’t write down her recipes, so I have to try to remember them. I lost her years before she died, as she had dementia. In some ways though, I got to know her better in that time than in my entire life. She often lived in her younger years, a time she never talked of. I still miss her and wish I had known to ask her more when she had her memories.

    Reply

  • My mum passed away when i was 16. I lost those chatting moments and cooking time with my mum.I still miss her so much when raising my kids.

    Reply

  • Sorry to all who have lost their mothers. My mum is 69 and still in pretty good health. I don’t live near her and miss her everyday and cherish the time when we are together. I’m a mother to 4 children and I always wonder I hope I don’t pass young, how will my children cope and that scares me the most. Love to all the mothers and passed mothers. God bless.

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join