One has been my very good friend … she’s a mother of a friend of my second born son and when I had Christopher, my last born, there’s a 14-year gap between him and the brother he follows, I was 45, it was a very difficult pregnancy and… she came to hospital, she brought me a cup of tea, a flask of tea and we sat and drank. But during the first few weeks, because he was premature, she came to my house. I hadn’t yet bought a changing table, she brought a table from her house and put it in my bedroom, she would come and say, “Ok, let me hold the baby and you eat and you drink” and she would just, she was there, she was like a presence, constant present, holding me, being there for me and that carried me through a very, very challenging time. I think my children also, in different moments, you know? When my little one comes and he gives me a hug or a kiss, when my oldest son just says “mommy, come here” and he gives me a big hug for no reason at all, or they say thank you to me. When my daughter helps me with my writing and reading and critiques me. For me, it’s those little things where the children actually see me, that make a world of difference.
