mum's deathbed legacy

Rachel Hope hadn't spoken to her family for a year. She was always in trouble as a teenager, shouted so much at her dad that finally he refused to talk to her or acknowledge her.
Her mum tried to be go-between, but it just didn't work and finally, at the age of 16, Rachel stormed out without a backwards glance.
She met her partner Damian and got treatment for her anger - turned out she ADHD.
Then she got a call. Her mum had been taken into hospital. She was seriously ill. She was going to die soon. but so much had happened Rachel just couldn't go. Two months later Rachel found out she was pregnant. All she wanted was her mum.
She forced herself into the hospital, was shaking by the time she walked into the ward.
She barely recognised her mum, she looked so ill. It was an emotional reunion and then finally Rachel broke the news that she was pregnant.

After that Rachel was at the hospital every day and each time her mum had more advice for her, wanted to tell her everything she'd learned from bringing up her own family.
Her mum knew she would never live to see the baby born, wouldn’t ever live to be a grandmother, so instead she needed to pass on everything she could to her daughter in the short time she had left.
“Remember!” she said one day. “If it all gets too much and you get cross with the baby, just turn around and take five deep breaths and it will all be better….”
Six weeks after mum and daughter were reunited Deborah passed away. She was just 50.
Now the family had to unite to make the arrangements. Rachel found herself face to face with her dad. They looked at each other and smiled through the tears.
“Peace?” “Peace.”
Baby Emily was born in October 2009 and her granddad was one of the first to hold her.

Now Rachel talks or sees her dad every single day. Its like all those years have been forgotten - he calls Emily the light of his life.
Rachel, who’s 20, said: “I miss mum every day but she made sure I’d be okay. I'm bringing Emily up just like she advised. If it all gets too much I take five deep breaths, think of her and everything’s okay.”