Mum was a bundle of energy. As I frequently say to people – I’m not sure I remember her ever really sitting down until she became ill. She was always moving, always on-the-go, always running from one place to another doing various activities.
Our house was always a busy one; three children, a handful of friends, a collection of musical instruments, a pet or three, and every now and again an extra ‘borrowed’ pet. It never was going to be the quietest of places.
If there wasn’t a hum of voices filling the house, there was music. Mum played the saxophone (foghorn) and was part of a band. My Dad and one of my brothers played the piano and we had a drum kit in the lounge. When people weren’t making their own music, the CD player was on in the kitchen – Mum often put Caro Emerald on and danced round the kitchen whilst cooking or baking. There would normally be music coming out of the lounge, too, and at least one bedroom.
When Mum first became ill, the house only became noisier. I had moved to uni by that point but would come home most weekends and whenever I did, there were visitors. I don’t think there were ever just five of us in the house. Mum’s friends from uni would visit, or some family would have travelled up North. At the very least there would be some friends from the village or a neighbouring town popping in.
A year after Mum was diagnosed as terminal, she ended up in a coma in hospital. At that point, she was silent, but her room wasn’t. You would imagine someone being in a coma in the middle of the room might result in a bit of a sombre atmosphere, but it really wasn’t. We would spend most of our time there with various combinations of family and friends. It was almost a happy atmosphere – people were sharing stories and memories. There was laughter. I remember tearing up at times, but on the whole I remember feeling like although we were separate from the world and time lost all meaning; laughter and smiles prevailed through it all.
Once Mum came home from hospital, the noise subsided. We still had visitors, people still came to see her – in fact I only remember a single day between her coma in February 2015, and her death in October 2015, when I had some time alone with her – there was always someone around. It was quieter, though. Visitors would sit in the lounge with Mum just talking, or with the TV on in the background. There were occasions when it was busier and louder, but on the whole I remember it being more still.
On the one day that I was alone with Mum, the silence was almost loud. Mum slept for most of the morning. There was nobody else in the house. It was still and so quiet. It no longer felt like my house.
I remember staying over at a friend’s one night, and in the morning we were woken to a clattering in the kitchen and the sound of general family life. Until that point I hadn’t realised how much my house had stopped sounding like a home.
When Mum died, the house was full of people. The church was full of people. There was hardly space to breathe at times. There were words, there was music, there were children running around, adults talking, people generally catching up and exchanging memories and condolences. People speak more softly when someone dies. I’m not really sure why, but they do.
Mum died in October, her funeral was November and then it was Christmas. Throughout all of this time I carried on living at uni. The house I grew up in wasn’t home any more. The sound of it was wrong. Life became quiet. Having too much noise put me on edge and made me feel horrible – grief sensitised me to sound and I just couldn’t deal with anywhere particularly busy or noisy.
I’ve well and truly moved out now, but each time I pull into Dad’s drive, I still expect to see Mum running around the kitchen or working in the office. The house doesn’t have the ‘right’ sound any more.
Mum had so much life, love, and passion in her. She lived every single day. She tried new things, loved her job, cared for each of us, had fun with her friends, and picked up various hobbies. She wasn’t quiet, and neither was her personality.
Grief is so loud yet so quiet at the same time. Slowly, slowly, I am able to listen to, and enjoy music again. I can have the TV and the radio a little louder. Some songs or sounds will still set me off. I’ll be trundling along and out of nowhere a song or a sound will hit me, my chest will explode, and I will cry and cry. That can often be a relief in a strange sort of way, though. Sometimes you really need to cry.
I’m not ‘there’ wherever ‘there’ is. I will never live another day without grief, but I am learning to live alongside it. It doesn’t go away, but it does get better. The ‘I can’t breathe’ moments become further apart. I’m able to listen to music again, I finished a book the other day for the first time in years, I can put the radio on, and at times I can play the music super loud in my car and have a good old sing-a-long.
One day, I will have my own kitchen, I will embarrass my family by cranking up the CD player (or whatever magical invention exists in the future) and singing along to whatever music takes my fancy. I will have a house that is a home. It will have its own sound. It will be full of love and light, just like Mum was.
This was originally written for Let’s Talk About Loss, a safe space to talk through taboos and address the reality of losing a parent when you are young.
Naomi Jane 