Good morning,

A couple of weeks ago I met a wonderful woman with amber eyes. She had a soft, engaging demeanour, and I really connected with her. We spoke of many things, despite the noise level in the bar where there was live music being played, which was lovely, but made it hard to have a proper conversation with a person you’re meeting for the very first time.

We spoke about health of course, as people always tend to do when they reach their so-called golden years. Maybe they should be called wonky years, instead, although that wouldn’t be quite so lyrical, I suppose. Nevertheless, at the moment, as far as I’m concerned, “wonky” seems more fitting. But whatever. I wish us all PURE GOLD!

Like me, this woman is “in the wars” as my Nana used to say, but she didn’t dwell on her own problems too much, despite having cancer. Instead, she spoke of her daughter who is a few years older than mine, and who has breast cancer. After a couple of chemotherapy treatments, her daughter felt so awful that she decided to pursue alternative methods to fight the cancer, so she and her mother have been travelling to different countries, seeing alternative therapy cancer specialists.

My heart went out to her, and to her daughter of course (who wasn’t there, I think she lives in the UK). This woman’s beautiful gaze has stayed with me, and this morning, when I first woke up (I went back to sleep again for a while, it was very early…), I wrote a Haiku for her. I believe it will also resonate with the vast majority of mothers, because we will always find hidden reserves of strength to help our children.

I hope you enjoy it.

Love

Cesca xx

A Mother’s Strength

Her amber eyes brim

with fatigue, fear and sadness.

Yet her heart still roars.