In honour of Mother’s Day, we asked some AGCF ambassadors to share a special story about their mum. This is Paula’s story about her mum, Rita.
Paula and Rita Duncan
“Our mother always encouraged us to be the very best we could be, she believed that life was for the making, not the taking. She demonstrated such pride, dignity, honesty and tenacity.
She had great faith not only in God, but in our Dad. Even though he was never educated and left school at 14, she held onto his great character and strengths and treasured his family values.
Our mother was totally in love with our dad. They danced the nights away till the morning, “I’ll sleep when I am dead” she would always say! Adoring music, parties, great flowers, food and wine. She would talk to anyone, and make everyone feel so welcome.
Although she did have a touch of class which my sister had! She would say that I was a bit rough around the edges.
She was a wonderful friend and valued them all so much. She always said she wasn’t going to be here for a long time but rather a good time, she had no problem being totally honest about her true feelings and her past. When I received my This is your life, even though she was in intensive care she faked her recovery so that my This is your life was not interrupted. She died the next day. Heroic and selfless.
She was a devoted grandmother! Funnily, my sister said to me when we had a fight one day, “you were the accident of the family”. My mother said “you go back and tell your sister, you were all accidents.” Although we were all so very loved, she admitted she was not maternal and would have been just as happy with just loving our Dad!
She always reminded us with her favourite song Begin the Beguine. It brings back a song of music so tender! As she brings back my memories of love so tender! Love and miss you Mummy“
– Paula Duncan AM
To celebrate your Mum, we’d love for you to donate #OneForYourMum. This campaign encourages people to make a single donation to the AGCF. All money raised is used to fund important research that will help save women’s lives around the world – women like our strong mums.
Copy and paste the below to your social media and share a special story all about your Mum.
Join me this Mother’s Day by making a donation and posting a special memory of you and your mum to social media with the hashtag #oneforyourmum. Donate to the Australian Gynaecological Cancer Foundation here: https://bit.ly/2A0AAOv
Happy Mother’s Day.