Two Heroes – A famous Lancashire contralto and a Scottish Mum

In spite of significant pain caused by her cancers, my mother was incredibly brave and retained her sense of humour until a few days before her death.

I am guessing that it’s only natural for someone in her position to question what has been achieved during her lifetime and, during one stay at the hospital waiting to be told that shje was in fact already too sick to undergo chemotherapy, I shared one of my favourite pieces of music with her on my iPod.

While I listened to one earphone, she lay in bed with the other held to her ear and together we listened to the Agnus Dei from Bach’s Mass in B Minor BVW 232 sung by one of my favourite singers, “a beautiful creature”, the British contralto Kathleen Ferrier who died in 1953.

Afterwards, my mother confessed to me that she felt some regret in not being able to leave anything behind in the same way that Kathleen Ferrier had, beautiful music that will be enjoyed by millions forever…

Kathleen Ferrier did have a magnificently warm and radiant personality which somehow managed to infiltrate her voice and supposedly during one of the rehearsals for a piece by Mahler, the orchestra had to stop playing while Ferrier was singing because too many musicians had started to cry.

I must confess that in the past I have had tears in my eyes basking in the velvety warmth of Kathleen Ferrier’s voice especially when one remembers her tragic illness and death caused by breast cancer at the ripe old age of 41.

Now that her memory is inextricably linked to my dear old Mum, listening to Kathleen sing is more poignant and pleasurable than ever.

The media in general like to portray the ‘hero’ as some superhuman type, suffering unimaginable horrors to save lives in impossible situations but the fact of the matter is that so many regular people – Doctors, nurses, firemen, mothers and fathers are real unsung heroes every day.

Kathleen Ferrier was heroic in her way and bravely fought and sang until the very end and, sitting there at her bedside, I explained to my mother why she was a hero too.

I said that Kathleen may have had a successful although sadly, a very short career, her marriage had been annulled and obviously there were no children so she may have left an indelible mark on the world of classical music but when it comes to love… My Mum – and maybe yours too – has left behind so, so much more..

Please don’t forget to tell your mother you love her!

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.