A mother is a mother still,
The holiest thing alive. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Three Graves
Mother died today. Or perhaps it was yesterday, I don’t know. Albert Camus, L’Etranger
Come home. Please. Alan Bleasdale, Boys From the Blackstuff: Yosser’s Story, Yosser to Maureen, BBC 1982
She used to be our mummy. ibid. child to child
She didn’t love me. She didn’t love the kids. I know you want to talk to me about the kids. I want to keep the kids. I want to keep the kids. ibid.
Pride is one of the seven deadly sins; but it cannot be the pride of a mother in her children, for that is a compound of two cardinal virtues – faith and hope. Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
She was of the stuff of which great men’s mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, feared at tea-parties, hated in shops, and loved at crises. Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd
Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother’s love is not. James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Only in America, Rabbi Golden, do these peasants, our mothers, get their hair dyed platinum at the age of sixty, and walk up and down Collins Avenue in Florida in pedalpushers and mink stoles – and with opinions on every subject under the sun. It isn’t their fault they were given a gift like speech – look, if cows could talk, they would say things just as idiotic. Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint
Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office 15th June 2015 10:40 p.m. Police have brought in Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a 19-year-old woman from Springfield, Missouri, for questioning regarding the death of her mother. Mommy Dead and Dearest, Sky Atlantic 2017
‘Things are not always as they appear.’ ibid. rozzer
‘She asked me to.’ ibid. boyfriend
‘I fucken slashed that fat pig and raped her sweet innocent daughter … Her scream was soooo fucken loud lol’. ibid. Facebook
‘The appearance of a long financial fraud scheme.’ ibid. rozzer
‘If I had to say one word about her it would be overprotective.’ ibid. Gypsy
‘In my opinion Munchausen by Proxy … is a form of child abuse.’ ibid. doctor
Almost all of Gypsy’s relationship with Nick was online role play. ibid.
Ten years. ibid.
‘I was born into a gypsy family. My mum was white, so was her husband. And I came out black. The story I was told was that my mum put me in a caravan and set light to it. I guess she didn’t want me around.’ Annie: Out of the Ashes, Annie, BBC 2017
It’s about understanding the culture, characters and events that led to a fire which nearly killed her. ibid.
‘What a waste of life to be sad and angry.’ ibid. Annie
In the 1980s there were an average of 2,000 caravan fires every year across the UK many of which were fatal. ibid.
Finding out her grandmother was in there with her changes everything. ibid.
What can I say? My mum was a cunt, God rest her soul. Essex Heist 2017 starring Georgia Annable & Richard Carter & Adam Collins & Helen Crevel & Steven Dolton & Dean Leon Finlan & Evadne Fisher & Ryan Flamson & Marc Hamill & Marcus Langford et al, director Steve Lawson
Then I got saddled with you. That was my downfall, darling. Secrets & Lies ***** 1996 starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste & Brenda Blethyn & Timothy Spall & Phyllis Logan & Claire Rushbrook & Elizabeth Berrington & Michele Austin & Lee Ross & Lesley Manville & Ron Cook et al, director Mike Leigh, mother to daughter
There’s nothing rational about grief. Maybe you’re crying for yourself. ibid. Hortense
I’ve got a Dutch cap floating around somewhere upstairs. You could have that. Run it under the tap. Bit of talcum powder. Where you going? ibid. mother to daughter
I was spending time with women dealing with mental illness brought on by having babies. For all its joys, new motherhood can be a time of extreme psychiatric difficulty. In homes and in specialised units I was with families and staff working to find a way back to recovery, exploring the wrenching challenges of caring for two people of the most vulnerable states in their lives. Louis Theroux: Mothers on the Edge, BBC 2019
That scared little boy’s mother is a once-popular mom influencer Ruby Franke … Her 12-year-old son escaped out of a window looking for food and water … How did it all come to this? True Crime Recaps: The Shocking Case of Ruby Franke, Youtube short 7.14, 2023
The house the boy escaped from belongs to Ruby Franke’s business partner, a life coach by the name of Jodi Hildenbrandt. When police checked the house they found more kids inside. ibid.
The neighbours called it Complete Insanity. ibid.
[Danita Tutt] faces allegations of medical child abuse including lying about her son’s safety … of starving her son Colby. Accused: Guilty or Innocent: Attempted Murder or Protective Mother? news, ITVX 2022
Danita is alleged to have starved and attempted to murder Colby during his time in hospice care. ibid. caption
Colby had 3 surgeries within 8 weeks to help him swallow, digest food, and eliminate waste. But they caused further complications. ibid.
In 2016, Colby was removed by Child Protective Services. A week later, Colton was also removed. Danita and her husbant Clint fought a legal battle for custody of their children. After 9 months, the court ruled in their favour, and the children were returned to the parents. ibid.
The Prosecution alleges Danita’s Facebook activity may indicate that she is suffering from a mental illness known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. ibid.
We have this little flood of Munchausen by Proxy cases coming from Cook’s County Hospital … ibid. defense
The defense call 17 witnesses over 5 days. ibid. caption
Found guilty of starvation and attempted murder … Danita was sentenced to five years in prison. ibid.
My lot never seem satisfied. Or grateful come to that. Play for Today: Not for the Likes of Us, mother, BBC 1980
Years of putting up with it. Waiting on you all. For what, eh? ibid.
I don’t even know what myself is. ibid.
2021: At the time of filming Kathleen Folbigg had spent 19 years in prison for murdering her four children. The Baby Killer Conspiracy s1e1: Kathy Folbigg, Reality 2024
Sarah is the third child to die at four and a half weeks. ibid.
Sally Clark: ‘The police officer says that there is evidence that Harry was unlawfully killed.’ ibid. comment
I never never shook him. He is just so precious. ibid. Sally Clark
It gets worse … He [pathologist] decides to go back to Christopher’s post-mortem, and he changes his mind. He decides his [Christopher’s] death wasn’t natural causes: he was smothered. ibid. comment
She [Sally Clark] was charged with the murder of Christopher and the murder of baby Harry. ibid.
Donna Anthony found guilty of killing her two children, smothering first Jordan, then a year later Michael. ibid. TV news
The star witness was Professor Roy Meadow. ibid. Comment
Kathy: Laura Elizabeth Folbigg, 1 year 8 months: The autopsy report was undetermined. ibid.
8 months after Kathleen loses her fourth child, a woman in Salisbury is arrested on suspicion of the murder of her 3 babies: Angela Cannings. ibid.
Meadow’s Law: One sudden death is a tragedy, two suspicious, three murder unless proven otherwise. ibid.
After 2 years, Sally Clark goes on trial for the murder of her babies, Christopher and Harry. ibid.
Sally Clark trial: Professor Meadow walked in as if her was the star of the show. ibid.
He [Professor Meadow] was convinced he was never wrong. ibid.
Sally Clark: The solicitor who was found guilty of murdering her two sons when they were babies was given two life sentences today. ibid.
Meadow’s Law: This was a very dark time for women. ibid.