Lisa Mayoh: Thinking about the women in my life on Mother’s Day

Today is your day, mums. However it’s spent, appreciate all it takes to be a mother, and why we honour them this very lovely Sunday in May, writes Lisa Mayoh.

I always think about the women in my life on Mother’s Day.

My Sicilian nonna was a teenager when she spent two months on a ship – by herself – to come to Australia for a better life. She didn’t know the language, the country, the people – she was meeting a distant uncle who had already come out in the search for more, and found it in Willoughby, where he went on to run a fruit shop. I grew up at the back of that fruit shop.

Even though Nonna is 88 and has dementia, every time I visit her she tells me about those days – me learning maths while giving people change or writing specials on the board I could barely reach on my tiptoes.

Today, that fruit shop still exists. It’s just up the road from where my mum went to school – the same school my son still goes to – and every time I go there I think of the woman who changed the trajectory of our family because she was brave enough to get on that boat, at the same age as my eldest daughter.

A young Lisa with her brother, Vincent, and their nonna, Dorothy.

My mum is the eldest child and is as strong as my nonna is. Maybe that’s where my kids get it from. She often tells me how lucky I am to have a voice. When she was at school, her parents weren’t on the P&F or at teacher interviews. They were outcast for having mortadella rolls for lunch – the kind their kids are now paying $30 for at fancy sandwich shops.

We’ve come a long way, and it’s a day we can be proud of, not only the life we’re creating for our own kids but also where we came from.

Today is your day, mums. Picture: iStock

Today is your day, mums. And despite the romantic promise of flowers and a rare sleep-in, it can be a rough one for so many. Maybe you’ve lost a mum, or lost a child, can’t have children, or never knew your mum. Maybe your partner forgot to make a booking for dinner or you’re going to spend the day cooking for a crowd and it’s not quite about you at all.

Maybe you’re surprised with breakfast in bed, a handmade card that makes you cry into your pancakes, get to enjoy a wine at lunch you don’t have to make yourself, and have your PJs on before the sun goes down.

However it’s spent, I think we can all appreciate all it takes to be a mother, and why we honour them this very lovely Sunday in May.

For all the mums still “in it” – you will sleep again. I promise. For the mums who are fighting for their kids – in the health system, school system, court system – you’ve got this, girlfriend. Things will get better. For the women desperate to be mums, you’re allowed to feel sad today. To those who are happy and have everything you’ve dreamt of – cherish it all.

And to my amazing nonna, perfect mum, beautiful mother-in-law and awesome kids – how lucky are we?

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