The gift was ready, it was her favourite perfume. I was sure she would be happy to have it on her birthday in two weeks. I am not like most of us, blessed with just one mother, I have two and she is one of them. She is my mother-in-law, my safety net in a country where I only knew him. Her birthday at her home was always calm, an annual event that we all eagerly await, myself, my husband, and our two children. There is always classical music playing in the background while the smell of a freshly baked cake lingers around, and the table is always beautifully decorated, everything always looks perfect at her place.

I was about to bring the kids to school early that morning when the telephone rang. It was him, he sounded different. "My mum just died," he said. This was the second time I felt my legs feeble after my father died 16 years ago. I felt as if I was stuck in a daze and all I could think of is her voice saying to me ‘so ist das Leben’ or This is life!

I looked at both our children that morning, and my daughter smiled. I saw her face in my daughter’s and thought ‘she lives in us’.

To all the beautiful mums we lost, you are beautiful and you are always missed.