On the morning I went into labor with Brice, my mother texted me with a reminder. I call it a reminder now, but on that day when I was entering one of the scariest moments of my life, it was new to me.

During the nine long months of pregnancy, I could only imagine what motherhood would be like. In short, I had no idea what lay ahead.

But thankfully, by the grace of God, I already had the best example to learn from.

How do you become a mommy? I have googled many, many things since the moment I got that positive pregnancy test, but how to become a mommy was not one of those questions. It wasn’t that I already had the answer to what makes a good mother, mummy, mama, or mum. It was the perfect example that God hand-picked for me – my Mummy.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Mummy is and always will be one of my best friends.

But before she was my Mummy, she was so much more. She is a best friend to her siblings, especially her sisters. She is a hard worker and shone as a confidant to her colleagues in nursing school.

She is a supportive wife who moved with her husband to a new country, where he would continue his studies in a field that was much needed in The Bahamas. There, in a state far from home, my Mummy became a new mom without her mother by her side. It was a time when being 1200 miles from home felt like you were millions of miles away, and each tick-tick-tick on a rotary phone felt like ages until you heard a voice from home.

Once upon a time, she was a midwife helping women to bring their babies into the world. Later, she was on the frontlines of medicine as an emergency room nurse acting in a split second to save lives.

She has been a second mother, and a safe haven for hundreds of students when she was a school nurse.

She is a compass guiding our family through faith. She is our anchor, holding firm through every season of life.

She was there the moment my children took their first breaths. My Mummy has held them and prayed for them before they knew day or night. 

She is Nana to her grandchildren, a matriarch who leads the way and loves with endless hugs, kisses and snuggles.

She is love. She is my Mummy.