This week Sal anad Dave reflect on the loss of Dave's mum and how that loos of the last parent is profound for them both indivually and for their marriage.
Below is the eulogy Dave wrote for his mum.
Yesterday we gathered in Launceston to farewell mum.
It's a terrible thing to lose a mother. Especially in a matriarchal family.
When the siblings gathered last night our friend said, "you're orphans now".
There is nothing inherently wrong with the death of mum yet it feels wrong.
Mum was a very funny woman. A strong woman and a deep women whose voice will live on in the back of my mind. With a single "mother's look" at me on my wedding day she taught me to see my wife above all other distractions. She taught me to protect the vulnerable and woe betide anyone who intended harm on a vulnerable person. She taught me to stand up to the powerful. Mum taught me how to live by Faith and she taught me how to question that Faith.
Mum showed me that money is useful but not essential and that giving and receiving is core to being a decent human being.
I am who I am not because mum taught me everything but because she taught me how to learn and how to find the way forward even in the darkest times. The very darkest times.
Suffering does that. It makes those who accept it wise and mum was wise. Boy was she wise.
Marj loved her grandchildren most of all. I know this sounds strange but it was almost like she took their confessions and kept them secret, imagine that! A grandmother who's grandchildren wanted to be honest with her!
She was wrong about one thing though. Mum told my then fiancee that if she could put up with me until I was 30 years old then I might be worth being married to! I was 20 when she gave Sallie that advice. She was wrong by 10 years. I was 40 before I was worth being married to. Most other things she was right about.
Marj was a woman who cared about her family and friends but most of all she cared about justice. That's a rare quality. When push comes to shove most of us reprioritise our priorities. When our backs are against the wall we tend to protect ourselves. Not mum though. I don't think I ever saw her reprioritise. I believe mum had her priorities straight right from the start. Stand with the poor, the marginalised, the refugees, the homeless and those who are suffering.
The only exception being her support for The Cats. Obviously she was mistaken on that one but for everything else, I won't live to see a more principled person.
Love ya mum.