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Dearest First name / One,

 

Here in Ireland, after a long, cold Spring, the earth has gifted us with her bounty again. At a time when our home on this earth has never looked shakier, her generosity moves me deeply. And bluebells! So fleeting, so magical. I'm pleased to say that my health has been easier these last few weeks too, and although there are still a lot of unknowns to be sorted, it's been wonderful to feel a little spring in my step! I even managed to host a Reignite Weekend here at home, and filling the house with the energy of 12 wonderful women from Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America brought me great joy (see the grin on my face in the photo below, and thank you to the lovely participant who gifted me with my brilliant mug!)

 

I'm thinking of all of you around the world facing Mother's Day next weekend. We've already been through it in the UK and Ireland, but thanks to social media, it's like we're double-dipped in it! (As some of you may have noticed, I've been on a break from social media for the last several months, and I really don't miss it!) My own experience of Mother's Day has transformed over the years from feeling like an open wound to a day that feels much more wistful, particularly now that I am both motherless and childless. 

 

Ten years ago this year, I was honoured to give a lay address from the pulpit of one of London's most beautiful churches, St Martin's in the Fields, on Mother's Day, in which I said: Perhaps it would help if we could extend the idea of ‘mothering’ to include all those women who are mothers in their hearts, but aren’t biological mothers. To think of ‘Mother’ as a verb, not a noun, as something you do rather than something that you are.

 

I hope that you find the support you need to feel that this Mother's Day, either with a supportive community around you, or if you don't have that yet, perhaps in the all-day members-only chat within the Childless Collective Online Community. And if you're based in/near Chicago, do check out Lana Manikowski's ‘Other’s Day Brunch' which is now a two-day event taking place over 8-9th May. I know that when my childlessness was more than I could bear alone, the thing that got me through was the understanding and companionship of other childless women. I couldn't have done it alone; I know, because I tried… 

 

So grateful for all of you being here with me these last fifteen years; I wouldn't be the woman I am today, at peace with my childlessness and excited about becoming CRONE AF without you!

 

Until next month,

This newsletter takes a day (at least!) each month to write and produce. If you'd like to support my work, you can leave me a tip at BuyMeACoffee, and I'll probably do exactly that with it, no doubt, whilst also reading a book you've helped me buy :)