~A Mothering Monday with my Bestest & Closest Friend Ever~

Words I grew up with, a pretty floral frame, in gorgeous corsiva text, that my mom had given her mom, proudly displayed on my grans' mantle, which mum  has since inherited - will always remember them and keep them close to my heart with loving thoughts of my mum, always!  Ann Taylor, some 50 odd years ago

Every girl needs her mom, when she's 5, 15, 25, and like me 45! 

It was with the greatest of excitement that I embarked on my flight to Pietermaritzburg (Sleepy Hollow, my hometown and where I work a 3-day week) and as I had been working from my Jozi home for 2 weeks, and being used to spending 3 days every week with my mum  for past 17 months, (which wife and mother is as fortunate to do that?) I realized at the airport how much I had missed her and couldn't wait to see her again!  As luck would have it, my flight was delayed for almost 2 hours and I called her to say that I though it best that I head back home and work from home(at that stage I didn't know how long the delay was).  I could hear the disappointment in her voice, "No Prava, I need you here"!!! And down went her handset in my ear!, hahahaha!  Typically my mum, having the last say, as always!  My heart swelled at that stage and there and then I knew that I had to make that flight - so off I went to grab a black coffee and bide my time observing humans in the departure lounge....

I dwelled on the other excitements of my week, my boys heading for long December holidays on Wednesday, our road trip to Cape Town, (where big boy will not sit in the same car with little boy - sigh!), our after new year 7 day bush break and new found excitement in that I discovered how comfortably I fit into a size 36 button and zip pants after being shackled in a size 44 for what seemed like an eternity!  With that in mind, I heard my flight being announced and boarded what turned out to be a turbulence-free air-ride with the most charming cabin crew guy serving me in my front row seat,  and arrived in my hometown at around 9.40am, rushed off to the home I was raised in most of my life, for a quick breakfast and then to see my mom, and work, of course, at the office.


Pic Left:  Me 7 July 2013 Size44 Elasticated Pants  XXL Top Pic Right: Me 2 December 2013 Size 36 Buttons and Zip Pants M Top
28.something kgs lost in 19.5 weeks
 
 

Freshened and ready to tackle the office (and my mum lol) I set off in the unusual cold Summer-wintery rain that the sleepy hollow had on offer for the start to the week. Keeping in mind that my mom hadn't seen me in over 2 weeks, and during this time I had cut my hair and had a sudden change in my body dimensions, I entered her sanctum and she looked up and said "Good Morning, how may I help you?"  At that stage I was struggling to contain the urge to burst into laughter and found it tough keeping a straight face (my mom is recovering from a major illness which has left her short-term memory affected but at 76, she still works!), and all this time I'm thinking, "Ai Mummy, could you forget your baby daughter?"  She stands up, looks me up and down, opens her arms to me and bursts into tears!!! (I must add, we're a very emotional family that cries a lot!!)   After the hugging, kissing and "Look at you" with pride spiel, she asks  me to stand back, gives me another once over, and proclaims, "Stop what you're doing and start eating"!  Shame, she knows that I eat, albeit in smaller quantities than what I normally did, but yes, I do eat, all the good, nutritious whole foods kind, the kind that's loosening those fat shackles day by day, the kind that's transforming me into a healthier, fitter and smaller me.


The rest of the day passed quickly in much of a blur (considering I only started work at 11h00 well, 12h00 if you take into account the bonding time with mum!).  I co-share an office with a colleague, directly next to our Matriarchs' - she has the loudest chuckle at the best of the times and I heard her so on the phone with her clan, informing them of how I have transformed and possibly intriguing them so much that I was invited to grace them with an audience (Sleepy hollow lacks entertainment on cold rainy nights) - so I obliged, and have just returned from my first 2 of 4 visits, where my oldest aunt at 80, a large women with the hugest heart I know of, with a twinkle in her eye, wanted to know my secret so that she can start her own journey (giggle) and the uncle born after my mom who's as skinny as Popeye's Olive Oyl, wants me to pass on my potion to his daughter (ja right!).  So it's 2 down with 2 to go, the most exciting of visits yet to come, as my mom's youngest sister is a serial dieter - this visit I need to prepare for!
 

Mum and Me - 12 October 2013

I guess a lot of my transformation will not be possible without the encouragement and support of  my dearest mum, and not the recent past but going back some 30-odd years and longer, probably since my birth.  I  have loads to thank her for, for the nagging me to do something about my weight, for instilling in me her determination and never say die attitude (which has fiiiinally rubbed off on me), for being proud of me and always inspiring me to believe in myself and my goals, for driving me to be the best that I can be (even in the most challenging of situations) and most importantly for always advising me whether face to face, in a letter (we are a family that likes to write too-besides all the crying!), or on the phone - that I should never give up on anything....

 

 My mum, always my support, my strongest critic, my beacon of hope, my driving force, my worse enemy and very much my best and closest friend,  my confidante, my person in my time of need, my emotional crutch, my partner in riding the storms of life, my book of encouragement, who offers hope like the light at the end of the darkest of tunnels, who inspires me to aspire to be just like her in her determination and steadfastness, who has beat the odds of the former apartheid regime to rise above all those who tried to bring her down and keep her there, my doyenne and leader in the community she has helped uplift, my self-made woman, my rock, my woman of substance, forever and a day, but always, fundamentally, my Mum!



The above words are so so so true....I owe so much to the woman who helped me give birth to the new me, while still cleaving to much of the old....so this blog entry is dedicated to you mummy, Rosemarie Veronica Miriam Singh - with much love and pride - for making me who I am today and for always believing in your baby girl - I will continue to make you proud and carry your name with pride and much much love always xxx

ALUTA CONTINUA