It all started with The Crystal Maze on Channel 4.
It was 1990, and we only had four TV channels to choose from and The Crystal Maze was a fun game show. In it, the host (Richard O’Brien) would take the contestants through different zones, and they’d have to partake in different categories of games; Mental, Mystery, Physical, or Skill. One of the zones (Medieval I think) took the contestants to a fortune teller who would give them a brain teaser to solve, Richard O’Brien referred to this fortune teller as Mumsie.
I’m not really sure why it stuck but it did.
She would’ve been 80 today. My Mum that is, not the fortune teller from The Crystal Maze.
It’s almost a year since she passed, suddenly but peacefully in her sleep. I think about her most days, always in the guise of either wanting to ask her a question, or wanting to share the latest exploits of her grandson. I think about my Dad that way too, we really should spend more time with the people we love.
I’m not sure what we would’ve done for Mum’s birthday, and even writing that sentence reminds me that there is no ‘we’ anymore either. Just me. But we’d have marked the occasion somehow, birthday cake, maybe a wee trip to her favourite garden centre/cafe/farm shop, and more than likely some simple presents, a nice candle, a new cosy jumper, that kind of thing.
Oh and if I could’ve I’d have bought some form of poo emoji item because Mum hated (and as she always said, hate is a strong word) the word ‘jobbie’.
I miss my Mum, I miss her intellect, her wit and sense of humour. I miss her advice, I miss seeing her watching her grandchildren play, and beyond that I miss the Mum from my childhood who, despite her occasional moods (now better understood by me as depression), was always there for me, always encouraging me, always supporting me, always pushing me to be better, challenging me gently to make sure I wasn’t taking the easy route too often.
And if nothing else she’s left me one final challenge; Make sure I make it to 80 years old.
Love you Mumsie.
