Mother 2 - RodneyOlsen.net

8622 days ago today a chapter closed on my life and the lives of the others in my family.

On the 28th of February, 1987, my mother, Margaret Sadie Olsen, passed away at the age of 66.

I was just 23 years 7 months and 6 days old when mum died. That’s 8622 days. That means that as of today I’ve lived as much of my life without my mother alive as I lived before her death.

When I was born my mother was 43. There is so much that I wish she could have shared over the last couple of decades.

Mum wasn’t around to see me cycle across Australia for the first time, just 8 months after she passed away. She never lived to see me realise my childhood dream of working in radio.

By the time I met Pauline, mum had already been gone for close to 5 years. She never got to see her youngest child marry the woman he loves. Mum never got to hold Emily or James in her arms. How I wish she was still here to see our wonderful little family. I desperately wish that Emily and James could have met their Grandma Olsen and that Pauline could have spent time with her mother-in-law trying to unearth some embarrassing stories from my childhood.

Mum never heard me tell stories of my trips to India and never had to sit at home and worry when I had to evacuate from Haiti during food riots a couple of years ago. She never experienced the thrill of seeing Emily and James top their classes or perform so well in so many areas of life. Mum was never very tall so Emily would already be taller than she was. Emily could have playfully leaned on her Grandma just as I used to do when I was younger.

I know that there are many significant events in the lives of my four siblings that mum has missed too. There have been highs and lows along the way but all of them would have been quite different if mum had been around to share them.

Mum’s last couple of years were spent in hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm. For most of that time she was unable to communicate with us. Occasionally she was able to say a word or two but there were other signs that would show us that she knew a lot of what was going on. Mum was pretty much paralysed so even making movement to communicate was difficult.

There were several times that more bleeding in her brain would cause doctors to tell us that mum only had hours or maybe days to live. We would all begin to grieve our loss only to find the days turning into weeks or months until there was another medical setback and the whole process would begin again. You can imagine the kind of emotional toll that took on each of us.

When mum finally left this earth I experienced a mixture of relief, sadness and joy. Relief that she didn’t have to suffer any longer, joy that she was now enjoying paradise but still the immense sadness of losing someone I loved so very, very much.

I know that the person I am today is very much a product of who mum was. I value the influence she was and continues to be in my life.

The photo in this post shows me a little younger than I am today with both my parents. You can click the picture for a closer look. Dad passed away around 8 years and a couple of months ago, just days before his 83rd birthday.

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You’ve got to hand it to Coca-Cola. It takes guts to advertise the fact that you’ve created an awful product that no one likes.

By all accounts the original Mother Energy Drink tasted pretty disgusting. I can’t really comment as I never had any interest in buying energy drinks. However, an increasing number of people do buy energy drinks and not many of them were buying the original Mother, which is why the product was completely revamped.

The new Mother is now selling well in Australia and other energy drink makers are copying Mother in providing consumers with 500 ml cans, twice the size of their normal product.

I found an email in my inbox some weeks ago asking for my opinion on their recent advertising. You can check out the TV ads at the Mother Blog. The email also asked if I’d like to try some of the new product.

While I’ve never really had an interest in energy drinks I’ve always had an interest in free stuff, so I said ‘Yes please’.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been making my way through a couple of dozens cans of Mother. My supply is now running out and I’m really going to miss having my morning kick.

I’d describe the taste to you but I really can’t pick it. It’s the kind of taste that grows on you. You need to down a few cans, though not one after another, before you get hooked …. er …. I mean start enjoying the full bodied flavour of this remarakble energy drink.

Yes, their ploy worked. I’m quite likely to buy the occasional can from this point on.

I love what it says on the side of the can.

If you need a MOTHER of an energy hit, you need MOTHER. It delivers twice the kick, in a big black can. So now when a mate turns up with a wussy-sized can, you can raise your MOTHER up and proudly say, ‘did yours come with a man-bag?’.

It’s not only an energy drink, it’s an energy drink with a sense of humour.

I’m wondering if you’ve tried Mother. Do you like it? Do you feel the energy kick after drinking it? Are you able to describe the flavour?

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