'My mother was dying and all at once, I understood how fragile an ordinary moment in life is'

A pivotal moment in a hospital hallway made Kellie Brierley-Kind realise the amount of time she had left with her beloved mum was shorter than she had expected. She talks to Helen O’Callaghan about how she now profoundly believes in the power of preserving something of a person’s essence

Kellie Brierley-Kind of Evergreen. Wedding, brand personal storyteller, and social media content creator. Picture: Larry Cummins

In 2018, my mum was in hospital for respite. She had cancer three times. She battled through the first two, and at this stage we knew she was quite ill.

We were in her respite room, just chatting as normal, when a nurse interrupted to speak with me privately. She took me outside and told me the worst. Mum was actively passing.