I have not written a blog for some time and this one I wish to dedicate to my Mum who passed away 2 weeks ago.
Mum was my number 1 fan and supported everything I did. We lived at opposite ends of Britain so I only saw her once or twice a year but we messaged most days and spoke every week, at least once. Despite neither being vegan or vegetarian, both Mum and my stepfather embraced veganism when I stayed with them as I insisted on cooking! Mum always found it amusing that they both went vegan for the duration of my visit.
So, she is now gone and I am lost.
Now, however I find myself floundering and wondering if prioritising my animals’ needs at the expense of my own is just too lonely a path to take. Should I instead move south and spend more time with what family I have left? I felt so alone when I came back home which may seem strange as I was alone anyway but Mum was always there on the end of a phone or responding to my messages and I could picture her in her kitchen or elsewhere in the house.
There’s no doubt that the path I hare chosen is a lonely one… or is it? What if I practice what I preach and stop differentiating between our different species? If I see all my family as just that; not as humans, sheep, horses, dogs and a hamster but all as family then I realise l am not alone up here. Yes, all my human family are down south but the rest of my family are with me here.
28 Aug 2021
Yes I would like to be able to pop into my sister’s or stepdad’s for a cup of tea but I can pop out and have a cup of tea whilst giving Hope a scratch or just sit in the field with them all and enjoy their quiet company whilst gazing out to sea. So, instead of wishing I was elsewhere and worrying that l am missing out on family time, I will make the most of my time with my whole family up here and down there, and on this, World Day for the end of speciesism, I would just like to say that all my family, both 2 and 4 legged mean the world to me.
So, Thank you Mum, not only for making me who I am, your unconditional love and your never ending faith in me, but also for helping me realise the value of family, whatever their species.
XXX