Content Provision for Member Stations
By: Joni Boyd
With millions of Australian men and women having lost their mother, and others missing their mum for different reasons, Mother’s Day is tough for many. Continue reading “Missing Your Mum? A Mother’s Day Survival Guide”
By: Joni Boyd
Key points
Continue reading “Motherhood: It Comes in Many Shapes and Sizes”
As Mother’s Day approaches, Compassion is shining a spotlight on those mums who are called to raise children with special needs like Angel, from Indonesia, and her teen daughter, Karunia. Continue reading “Raising a Daughter with Apert Syndrome – in Indonesia”
By: Amy Cheng
As many celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday, the day will be particularly difficult for those who don’t have mothers. Continue reading “Mother’s Day can be “Heartbreaking” for Many”
By: Justin Rouillon
As Mother’s Day approaches, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Shannon Fentiman has encouraged anyone buying their mum a gift to remember their consumer rights.
Continue reading “Make Mother’s Day Memorable For All the Right Reasons”
By: Steff Willis
This Mother’s Day will see streets across Australia turn pink as thousands get active for breast cancer research. Continue reading “Getting Fit to Fight Cancer at the Mother’s Day Classic”
By: Jess Drummond
Helen Smallbone has had a remarkable life, marked by leaps of faith, family adventures, internationally-renowned music, and travels spanning many kilometres. Continue reading “Helen Smallbone, ‘Mum’ to 3 Grammy Winners – Releases Her Memoir”
By: Georgia Free
Sue Brierley has used her own childhood to relate to the hardships faced by her sons, Saroo and Mantosh, and shares her story in ‘Lioness’.
Being a mum is about so much more than biology, as proven by Sue Brierley. Her family’s story was depicted in the blockbuster film Lion, focusing on son Saroo’s quest to find his biological family in India, using Google Earth.
Sue has now written a book called Lioness, detailing the untold story of her own childhood, and she talked to Hope Breakfast about how it shaped her own experience of motherhood.
Sue had a difficult start to life, raised in the Tasmanian hinterland by a violent father and traumatised mother. However, she believes her childhood better equipped her to relate to the hardships faced by her two sons, Saroo and Mantosh, who were adopted from India as young boys, by her and her husband, John.
“I knew very early on that a lot of children have a very difficult start to life,” Sue said.
However, Sue was adamant that her own children would not experience the same pain and neglect she felt from her own parents.
“I’d also had an extended period of time to equip myself with the knowledge. I really took it on as a purpose in a very professional way,” Sue said.
“I certainly put as much effort into the role as I could, by learning.”
Following Saroo’s successful discovery of his hometown and family, Sue was able to reunite with Saroo’s biological mum, Fatima, in India – an experience which both brought her peace, and broadened her perspective of what being a mother involves.
“Being able to meet [Fatima] was such a blessing, because I had the ability to have peace,” Sue said.
“It was [also] a very challenging experience because it [brought] in a whole lot of other dimensions to the relationship of being a mother.”
Ahead of Mother’s Day, Sue insisted that mothering is a role to be shared, and encouraged everyone to look out for the children in their own communities.
Saroo’s journey was immortalised in his book Lion: A Long Way Home and, more famously, in the popular 2016 screen adaptation Lion, starring Dev Patel. Sue, who was played by Nicole Kidman in the film, admitted the experience was challenging for her family.
“Suddenly we are in a world that is not ours. We are in a fantasy world. It places a lot of stress on the family,” she said.
However, Sue saw the film as a vessel to share the story of her family to the world.
“For me it was an opportunity to put out there that there’s a different way of living and being.”
Ahead of Mother’s Day, Sue insisted that mothering is a role to be shared, and encouraged everyone to look out for the children in their own communities.
“We’ve got to mother all the children of the world and share that role. I trust that will be our future.”
Sue’s book Lioness is available now.
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
By: Neri Morris
I am surrounded by amazing mothers and I honour and respect each one of them for the way they love and give to their families. Continue reading “Hey Single Girl, How’d You Go On Mother’s Day?”
By: Laura Bennett
Mother’s Day may be different this year, but the good news is you can always take a moment to indulge in a good movie — that is, if the kids leave you be and you can have the TV to yourself. Continue reading “Top 5 Movies for Mums This Mother’s Day”