Latest update September 16th, 2026 10:13 AM
Mothers Day…A bittersweet experience for some families
Mother’s Day for most is filled with joy and laughter as time is taken on this special occasion to appreciate and celebrate the maternal heroines in our lives.
Whether it is a biological, foster mother or otherwise, most people can find someone on this special day to salute and simply say “thank you” to for the indelible impact and contribution made to their lives.
Sadly, for some, today’s observance will hold bittersweet memories as they wrestle with the loss of that special “mother figure.”
Meanwhile, there are mothers who, rather than being cheerful on their special day, will spend it mourning the death of a child.
Prominent psychoanalyst, Theador Reik, described the relationship between mother and child “as the strongest bond on earth”. It is indelible and indescribable, he said.
Nathalie Caseley knows only too well the agonising pain involved in enduring this day in agony. This is the second year that she will not have the love of her first born son on this special day.
This year, one again, she will not have the pleasure of his little hugs and kisses, hear his infectious laughter around the house or hear the patter of his little feet.
Four-year-old Jaden Mars died last December during a visit to the Georgetown Public Hospital for a split tongue.
“I’m currently in denial… I try to put this harsh reality aside and remember the past, his laughter, his jokes, his smile and his cheerful persona.
Because of Mother’s Day I tried all week to not think about him and my plans because it is very hard to cope with the loss of my son,” Nathalie said recently.
Nathalie, who recently gave birth to her third child, is clearly still mourning the loss of her eldest son. She described the experience as something that “no mother should have to bear.”
After falling and cutting his tongue on a bucket Jaden was rushed to a health clinic in the area before he was referred to the GPHC to have stitches.
Medical officials there told his mother that they would need to give him a small dose of anesthetic to allow the stitching of the tongue. After three small doses of the anesthetic failed to fully numb the young boy’s tongue, the medical team decided that they would need to move him to the theatre and apply more of the anesthetic in a controlled environment.
It was just then that doctors informed Nathalie that her son’s heart had collapsed. He was hospitalized for some time before passing away; a post-mortem examination stated that this death was caused by pulmonary embolism.
The relatives of Gillian Merle Thompson will also be grieving her loss today.
The numerous students who benefitted from her wisdom, knowledge and guidance will no doubt also be celebrating her.
Gillian died on December 24, 2013 (Christmas Eve Day) in a horrific motor vehicle accident at the junction of North Road and Shiv Chanderpaul Drive in Georgetown.
At the time of her death she was the Chief Librarian of the Guyana National Library.
For her many nieces and nephews Gillian was nothing short of a mother as she had fine motherly qualities. They related that she reached out to all; always with words of wise inspiration and sage counsel.
Essentially, she used to admonish them to place a high premium on higher education; and fortunately, she lived to see the benefits of her motivation and encouragement pay off.
“Gillian was that mother for many of those children who had no one to turn to, the mother of literacy to all of Guyana, a caretaker, teacher and a friend,” one relative reminisced.
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