Wednesday 13 July 2011

A Day to Celebrate

It's Mam's birthday today... and because of this I feel I should dedicate today's blog post to her.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAM!!!

"Mam" is of course the wonderful woman that is JOEL's mother, half of what created Joel... but I sort of bagged her for my own too because she's that wonderful and she's adopted me like one of her own, bless her!  We really do mess around as tho I was her blood offspring not just married into the family!

Anyhow, Mam is one of the 3 women who Joel would have literally laid down his life for.  He wasn't called upon to do so, and it wasn't because of doing so that he died... but he WOULD have.  I've only seen him angry a few times in his life and generally it was FOR one of the triumvirate of Milburn females he loved, namely myself, Mam and his sister Sophie.

Joel was a self-confessed "Mama's Boy".  He wouldn't have moved to Norwich say, just to be with me (just as well I wanted to come 'home' then wasn't it LOL) he couldn't have moved that far from his Mam.  Not that I blame him.

It's mixed feelings I'm going thru today then... We've both (me and Mam that is) had a couple of tears today because it's very difficult being cheerful and happy and celebrating knowing that the one person who always made a party out of everything, the 'often very LOUD life and soul of the party' as Gill put it in her tribute to him at his funeral service, isn't here (at least not physically) with you.

But Joel would want his Mam to be happy, so I made the effort, amongst many tears, both happy and sad while remembering Joel coming down to find me working away at making handmade cards saying 'Where do you put all this stuff, it's taking over!!' (I admit I have um... RATHER a lot of craft stuff LOL) to make a handmade card for Mam. He'd be the first to say 'Can you do a card for....'  at Christmas we knew Mam was coming on a certain day to exchange gifts (rather than post, and since it was our first Christmas as husband and wife we spent it just the two of us)... he badgered me for about a week with 'Have you made Mam's card yet, have you done Mam's card yet!!'  Had it been for anyone else a shop bought generic one would do but you see Mam was, is and always will be SPECIAL.  And like I say, one of 3 women that meant the world to Joel.

So as we celebrate Mam's birthday today, if you're reading this Mam, know this, as I'm sure you do... he's around, he's still watching us, laughing with us, shaking his head in despair over us when we are in Matalan or the X-Catalogue shop for hours (and probably thinking 'At least I don't have to stand around waiting for them I can bugger off and go and check up on Sophie now for a bit.... oh great, SHE's in a bloomin' clothes shop too!' but grinning his head off as his exasperation with us girls was only ever half meant!) And if we buy in a take away he'll be making sure I get something worthwhile if it's a curry LOL.... 'Look, if you're going to get a curry make it something you can't make yourself... which when it's you Pol, isn't much you CAN'T make!! But make it a hot one, but tasty....' and also admonishing me about the diet in the same breath!!

I leave you with a picture of Joel and his Mam at the party at the palace (Queen's Golden Jubilee, 2006)




Proud to fly the flag for Britain and the Milburns!


I'll talk to you all tomorrow... after the celebratory meal!

2 comments:

  1. i'm going to leave a comment every day to let you know i read even if i'm saying nothing else.

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  2. Sounds great to me Rach.... just glad SOMEONE is reading them!!

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