6 MAY 2017
Win!1 GOLDIE HAWN
- her brilliant comeback
PAGE 54
2 SHORTLANDSTREET
- Kiwi icon turns 25
PAGE 36
3 LOVE BIRD
- How a magpie helped
a family heal
PAGE 50
Three things I
love in this issue
My youngest son,
Gabriel, turned seven
while we were putting
together this month’s
issue. So I was already
feeling a little
emotional as I sat
down to read the letters
three well-known Kiwi
mums had written to
their children for a
special Mother’s Day
celebration in the
magazine.
We had asked them
to write to their
children as a tribute,
and to talk about all
they’d learned and
loved about
motherhood.
I wasn’t prepared
for how I’d feel while
reading them. Maybe
it was my youngest
turning seven – and the
feeling he’s growing up
way too quickly for my
liking – or maybe it
was the simple honesty
and heartfelt words that got to me.
They’re beautiful, poignant letters about
what it means to be mum to Max (TV
entertainment presenter andThe Australian
Women’s Weeklycolumnist Kate Rodger’s
four-year-old son), Millie and Reuben
(doctor and former TV presenter Hinemoa
Elder’s children) and “Boot” (the nickname
for radio host Noelle McCarthy’s soon-to-
be-born first baby).
They immediately made me want to write
my own letter to my two boys, Harry (11)
and Gabriel. So much has happened over
these past few crazy years that I’m sure it’s
easy to forget the small moments, the funny
little sayings, the obsessions that last a
few days or weeks before they’re on to
something new, the different ways they have
of making your heart soar, and break.The main thing
I’d tell them is
that happiness,
compassion and
self-belief are my
wishes for them, and
that those four words,
“I love you Mama”,
are the best thing
I will ever hear in
my life. And that
sometimes, moments
after they utter them
and their backs are
turned, they bring me
to tears...
I’d also tell them I
am grateful. Not every
day of course – when
silly putty is left on
the floor and leaves an
orange stain that no
amount of scrubbing
and scraping will ever
remove, or green
felt-pen scribble
suddenly appears
on the back of my
beloved velvet chair...
I don’t feel so grateful
then, and instead threaten to send them off
to live with their grandparents. Though I
suspect my mum would be happy if I
followed through on that threat one day.
Maybe I should have asked her to write a
letter for Mother’s Day, but I’m fairly
certain I know what she would say: “Follow
your dreams, play more Scrabble, find the
joy in gardening, always drink great wine,
treasure your girlfriends, throw a pyjama
party for your 70th birthday, travel more,
and laugh.” Good advice Mum.WIN! Manuka Doctor offers naturally inspired, scientifically enhanced skincare that harnesses
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Doctor’s honey, or enter online at nowtolove.co.nz/manukadoctor and enter the unique code AWWM017.Michele Crawshaw, EDITOR
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE ROOKE.Follow us
“I hope you live a
life you’re proud of. If
you find that you’re not,
I hope you have
the strength to start all
over again.”- F. Scott Fitzgerald