Why I miss her most on Mother’s Day

Paula Burns was just 16 when her mother died on a family holiday.

It’s a loss that will feel particularly raw on Sunday

FOR me, Mother’s Day isn’t about fancy lunches, bottles of perfume and boxes of chocolate. Instead it entails a visit to the graveyard and a heart full of loss. I was only 16 when my mum passed away. There was no warning, no long illness. Right up to the day she passed away my mum was happy and full of life. We were on holidays in Spain and four days before we were due to come home, my mum woke up with an unbearable headache. By that evening there was no hope. Jun 23, 1996, was the day my life changed forever.