Label volunteer, Vicki Phillips, brings you a beautiful article for the first of our My Role Model series.
It wasn’t until this summer, due to the passing of my Nan, that I discovered who my role models were. Through my first experience of grief, it showed me two perfect examples of who I would inspire to be like, my Nan and my Mother.
Through my Nan’s short fight with cancer, her determination to not let death scare her inspired me. She never complained, asked why me? Her positivity, even in her hardest days, really gave me a new outlook on life. She made me want to take each day as I could, travel and experience new things.
Her relationship with my Grandfather, seeing her face only light up in the hospital when he went over to kiss her, showed me that true love existed. Helping my Mother write her eulogy, taught me so much that I did not know about how great my Nan was. Her funeral, attended by over 100 people, showed me how truly loved she was to our community and how she touched so many people’s lives, allowing me to be grateful for being so close to her.
She wasn’t the Nan that spoiled you, she brought you up wanting to teach you traditional values, to work for yourself and no one else. Not buying you presents to show you affection, but truly asking how you were. Her values flowed into my Mother, allowing me to be brought up in the way I wish everyone could be. Due to her, I want to be the best possible version of myself.
My Mother through losing her own mother, showed me how truly strong she was. Every day she visited her, every day she helped her, despite carrying on with her own life. She continues every day to help her widowed Father. The strength and compassion she has shown is what inspires me to be like her, to help and to hold the people I love.
These great women, who show such strength and thoughtfulness, are who inspire me. I strive to follow in their footsteps, carrying their values with me every day. I will miss my Nan forever, but I will always be thankful for the lessons she has taught me, and that she graced the world with her positivity and kindness.
Editor’s note: if you feel like you need to talk about the loss of someone close to you, please do contact Welfare, or our Welfare EO if you’re unsure of where to go.
Featured image by: Sofia Azcona.
