For mothers and their children.

I have been back to work a few busy days and then off to London on Monday. It's my last visit before my surgery so I considered going down on the Sunday evening to allow me to make the most of the trip. But I realised just in time..that it's Mothers day. Close shave! My own Mum is over 80 and has been widowed for 17 years so these days are important.  But Mothers day can be such a time for mixed and powerful emotions. If your own Mum has survived breast cancer ( or indeed any other life threatening condition) then this could be your real opportunity to celebrate with her. And at Breakthrough we developed a lovely way to help you do just that. http://mothersday.breakthrough.org.uk/step1.html So go on spoil her any way you want to. And then there are the Mums like me who are reminded of how precious time with their families is , because the worst fear for me on diagnosis was what if I wasn't going to be there to see them grow up. I lay awake at night and calculated how many years I would need to see them through school, through university, through gap years and broken hearts and then to see them marry, have children, careers and MOST important of all, be happy in their lives. Of course I never got to finite point, a point where I would be ready to leave my time upon the stage , I wanted to be sure I would be here for it all and still do. I remember that not long after my first diagnosis was when Princess Diana was killed. Her children are a similar age to mine and I did feel a deep sadness for them. Never someone who was  particularly captured by her as so many were but what I felt was the human tragedy of a loving Mother who would never have wanted to leave her children. One journalist wrote that whatever else we knew of her, we knew that she would have held her heart together to be there for her children. It made me cry then, stayed with me all these years , and actually has moved me to tears as I wrote it again. It spoke my own truth , I too was that mother who would have held my heart together . And I know the women I have paid tribute to  before in this blog would have too, to have as long as possible with their children. So if you read this having lost your own Mum, know that she would have shared that with us. Mother day is hard for many but take time to celebrate your happy memories and honour them. Rest assured that our work in Breakthrough studying how to prevent, diagnose early and deliver the best care and treatment for breast cancer is all aimed at saving precious lives and changing futures for all affected by breast cancer and making sure that the future allows more families to celebrate Mothers day together. Do get involved if you can support us in what we do, it's supporters who make it all happen. You can find out more on www.breakthrough.org.uk. Reasons to be cheerful are of course here I am celebrating Mothers day after a restorative holiday. Spring is here and the weekend awaits. I hope you have a good weekend too, enjoying precious time with your Mother if you can but if not treasuring happy memories. But most of all being happy, its what all us Mums want.