70 marieclaire.com.au
JULIE ADAMS/THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY/BAUERSYNDICATION.COMTo celebrate Mother’s
Day, four prominent
Australian females
write to the women
who raised them and
the children they
brought into the world
The Seven Network presenter and
entrepreneur was 41 weeks pregnant
with her first child when she was
diagnosed with aggressive breast
cancer. Just days after giving birth to
her daughter Annabelle, now 5, Sally
began chemotherapy. While she was
placed in remission a year later,
she was devastated to learn another
pregnancy wasn’t possible. But last
December, Sally, 43, and her hus-
band Marcus welcomed their second
daughter, Elyssa, into the world after
she was born via surrogate in the US.My dearest Annabelle
and Elyssa,
Even writing your names fills me with
so much love. I’ve been very lucky in
my life and I’ve had many amazing
opportunities, but you bring me my
greatest joy. You’re my first thought
in the morning and my last thought
at night ... actually, Elyssa, I thinkabout you all night because right now
you’re keeping me up for most of it!
Your Daddy and I wanted the two
of you so much, we went to extraordi-
nary measures to get you. The first
moment we held each of you in
our arms were the great-
est days of our lives.
Annabelle Grace,
you are pure light. After
my cancer diagnosis, you
kept me hanging on
because there’s no way
I was going to leave you.
Your little face gave me the hope
I needed to fight for my life. Those
moments of holding you as a tiny baby
gave my life a whole new level of mean-
ing. Fortunately, I’ve been able to watch
you grow up into the funniest, kindest,
sweetest little girl. You make me laugh
daily. You are my heart.
Elyssa Rose, you are my darling
baby girl. We were never going to giveup on having you come into the world,
even if I couldn’t carry you myself.
What a journey it’s been – literally,
travelling halfway around the world to
get you. You are the most beautiful gift,
when I hold you in my arms I feel like
the luckiest mum in the
world. When I look into
your beautiful blue eyes
I see such wonder and
hope. I’m filled with so
much love and gratitude.
My girls, you are
surrounded by love and
joy and my wish is that you carry that
with you for the rest of your lives. As
your parents, I hope we instil in you the
knowledge that you can be anything
you want. I want you to feel equipped
to take on the world, and to flourish.
No matter what happens in my life,
you will forever be my greatest achieve-
ments. You are my world.LETTERS OF
love
“NOT EVEN CANCER COULD STOP ME FROM
BRINGING YOU BOTH INTO OUR LIVES”- Sally Obermeder, media personality
“Your little face
gave me the
hope I needed to
fight for my life”Sally and husband
Marcus with “their
world” – daughters
Annabelle and Elyssa.All my love, always.