Meet Mum
“Before I tell you about losing my mum, I’d like you to meet her.”
- Who Was Sylvia Mary Turner?
- A Little Girl Much Loved
- Strong From The Beginning
- A Life of Hard Work
- A Young Woman in Love
- Never Stop Learning
- The Woman I Knew
- A Woman of Many Talents
- Practical to the Core
- The Organiser
- More Than Just My Mum
Who Was Sylvia Mary Turner?
Before I tell you about the final chapter of Mum’s life…
I’d like you to meet the remarkable lady she really was.
Not the patient.
Not the person in hospital.
Not someone defined by grief.
She was my mum.
She was strong.
She was determined.
She could be wonderfully stubborn.
She loved her family, her home and her animals.
She had lived a full and remarkable life long before illness ever entered it.
This is where her story begins.
A Little Girl Much Loved
Sylvia Mary Turner was born on 26 September 1929.
She arrived as a much-loved little girl to her parents, Florence Sophie Ager and William Frederick Ager, who had waited many years for a daughter.
She grew up with her three older brothers:
- Fred
- Jack
- Len
Family meant everything to Mum throughout her life, and those early years helped shape the caring, determined woman she would become.
I still remember Uncle Len.
Before he emigrated to Australia, he gave me a tiny ladybird magnet. I was only little, but I treasured it for years.
Many years later, during the last two years of Mum’s life, she smiled and told me something I’d never known.
She had named my dog Sophie after her own mum, Florence Sophie Ager.
It was one of those little family stories that stayed hidden for years.
Now, every time I call Sophie, I think of Mum’s mum too.
Strong From The Beginning
I’ve never met anyone with the strength and determination that Mum had.
She was proper old school.
When Mum made a decision…
She meant it.
Nobody ever bossed her around.
If they tried…
Well, God help them!
She wasn’t loud.
She wasn’t unkind.
She simply knew her own mind.
She believed in working hard, doing things properly and treating people with respect.
Those values stayed with her throughout her life.
A Life of Hard Work
Mum was never afraid of hard work.
Her first job was behind the bacon counter at the Co-op in Cranfield, back when it was both a grocery and convenience store serving the local community.
Later, she became a Land Girl, something she absolutely loved. She enjoyed working outdoors in the fields and took great pride in doing her part during those years.
After marrying Dad, her hard work never stopped. Together they worked from morning until night, in all weathers—whether it was blazing hot or freezing cold. Whatever the conditions, Mum just kept going.
I’ll also be creating a short video using old family photographs, so visitors can see this wonderful chapter of her life and the dedication and determination that shaped who she was.
A Young Woman in Love
Then one day…
Along came my dad.
From everything Mum told me, he had to work hard to win her heart.
He chased her for quite a while before she finally agreed to go out with him.
Eventually his determination paid off.
He won the heart of the woman he loved.
Together they built a life filled with family, hard work and love.
It was the beginning of a partnership that would last for the rest of Dad’s life.
Never Stop Learning
If there was one thing Mum never lost, it was her curiosity.
She loved learning.
Long before the internet existed, Mum taught herself new skills using books and cassette tapes.
After she passed away, I discovered her old German course tucked away on the shelves.
There were books.
There were cassette tapes.
She had patiently taught herself to speak German.
I had no idea just how much effort she had put into learning.
She was also teaching herself Spanish.
Finding those books amazed me.
Even after raising a family and working hard all her life, she still wanted to learn something new.
Looking back, I realise exactly where I inherited my own love of learning.
As a little girl, Mum would sit me at the table with pencil and paper.
There were no shortcuts.
No excuses.
She patiently taught me to read and write.
I practised the alphabet over and over again.
Upper-case letters.
Lower-case letters.
Again and again until I got them right.
Mum had the neatest handwriting imaginable.
She believed that if something was worth doing…
It was worth doing properly.
That lesson stayed with me for the rest of my life.
After Mum passed away, I also discovered shelves full of law books.
Hidden inside many of them were letters she had written over the years.
She had clearly spent hours teaching herself about legal matters so she could help herself and others.
Those books were Mum’s version of the internet.
Whenever she wanted to understand something, she’d sit down and teach herself.
Then, at 94 years old, she amazed me once again.
She learned how to use Artificial Intelligence.
She completed her first AI course and proudly received her certificate.
At ninety-four years of age, she proved something I’ll never forget.
You are never too old to learn.
The Woman I Knew
People often remember someone for the last chapter of their life.
I prefer to remember Mum for everything that came before it.
Her strength.
Her determination.
Her sense of humour.
Her kindness.
Her love of animals—especially donkeys. For many years she faithfully donated 60 pence, along with all the loose change she had left each week after paying for her newspaper at the village shop. It was a small gesture that meant a great deal to her.
Her pride in her home. It was her palace, and everything had its place.
Her willingness to help others. She always supported me in my projects, believed in my ideas, and in later years encouraged my passion for artificial intelligence, even though it was something completely new to her.
She wasn’t famous.
But in my eyes, she didn’t need to be.
She never sought recognition.
She was one of life’s quiet achievers.
She simply lived her life with dignity, purpose, and compassion.
To the world, she was Sylvia Mary Turner.
To me…
She was simply Mum.
A Woman of Many Talents
If there was one thing Mum believed, it was that life was meant to be lived.
She wasn’t someone who sat still for very long.
If there was something new to learn…
She learned it.
If there was a challenge…
She took it on.
Over the years Mum became an accomplished archer, winning hundreds of medals and certificates for her achievements.
She gained certificates in swimming and ballroom dancing, proving that whatever she turned her hand to, she gave it everything she had.
She was incredibly competitive, but always in the nicest possible way.
She loved playing cards and could hold her own with the best of them.
She enjoyed darts and was an excellent player.
She could play chess.
She loved backgammon.
Crosswords and quizzes were another passion, and she won prizes in many competitions over the years.
Learning wasn’t something Mum ever grew out of.
It was simply part of who she was.
Practical to the Core
Mum wasn’t just clever.
She was practical too.
There wasn’t much she wouldn’t have a go at.
She could work on classic cars, including MGs and Morgans.
She’d happily rub bodywork down ready for respraying.
She could repair paraffin heaters.
She could plaster.
She could decorate.
She wasn’t afraid of digging holes or laying pipework.
If something around the house needed fixing, Mum would usually have a go before calling anyone else.
She belonged to a generation that believed in repairing things, not throwing them away.
The Organiser
One thing always amazed me.
Mum knew exactly where everything was.
It didn’t matter if it was an old receipt, a spare screw, an instruction book or a family photograph.
She could tell you exactly where to find it.
Right up until the day she passed away, she remained incredibly organised.
If I asked,
“Mum, where’s…?”
She’d immediately reply,
“Second drawer down…”
Or,
“Top cupboard, behind the towels.”
And she was nearly always right.
It still amazes me today.
More Than Just My Mum
People often describe someone by their job.
Or by the role they played in the family.
But Mum was so much more than that.
She was an archer.
A dancer.
A swimmer.
A card player.
A quiz champion.
A practical engineer.
A decorator.
A gardener.
A lifelong learner.
A problem solver.
A woman who believed there was very little she couldn’t learn if she put her mind to it.
Above all…
She was simply Sylvia.
A remarkable woman who quietly got on with life and inspired everyone who knew her.