Today I am wearing her favourite perfume

In honour of my mother-in-law, Maureen

Today I am wearing Opium in honour of my mother-in-law, Maureen. She told me she liked this fragrance because it was one she bought for herself, not one a man had given her, and she always kept a bottle on hand.

Maureen was a lovely, decent person. She was moral and gentle and kind. She was too good for this world, that’s why she mostly kept out of it, preferring the safety and sanctuary of her home, which was like a cool, dark oasis.

Maureen tended to her home with love and care, building and creating it year by year, adding layers of familiarity and comfort. Her home was her own work of art, and over the years, she decorated it beautifully. One day, I admired a dried floral arrangement she had placed in a wicker basket, and when my birthday came around the following year, she got me one just like it.

That's the kind of person she was; she noticed things. She remembered things.

Maureen loved her little pet Chiwawa, Paddles, and the coterie of birds in her avery. She cherished the love and companionship they gave her, and she was an attentive and devoted custodian.

She was a talented artist and created many beautiful portraits and paintings. Maureen also loved to read, and she told me she would have loved to be a librarian and be surrounded by books. I said that she would have been too busy putting them back on the shelves to read them, and she said that was probably true.

Maureen's life was not an easy one, but in her later years, she found contentment. She only gave her time and attention to that which gave her enjoyment and peace, and eschewed anything that caused her unrest and discomfort.

My two adult sons have flown out to see her today, on Christmas Day, to be with her before she passes. It’s not easy when your loved ones live in a different state, with all the uncertainty and emotions that come with this difficult time.

They made the decision to go there last night, on Christmas Eve, even though the hospital staff couldn’t be sure that their Nanna would even know they were there. But they felt it was the right thing to do.

They wanted to be there with her, and I couldn’t have been more proud last night as they tapped away on their phones and made the impossible happen.

I believe that Maureen will be aware on some level, and that having her grandsons at her side will make her passing easier. She will go into the next life knowing that she is cared for and loved, and that the goodness in her spirit lives on in those two young men.

I will be thinking of her today, and in the days to come, and I will be wearing her favourite perfume from now on.

I hope that Maureen is reunited with the people she loves when she crosses over, and that she finds contentment and peace.

Goodbye and thank you, Maureen.

God bless and Godspeed.

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