'It's a photo of a woman drowning in misery' - a raw account of grief and motherhood
Blogger and mum-of-four, Constance Hall has shared an image that reminded her of a moment when she was drowning.
The normal, routine looking photograph shows the mum feeding her toddler son some mashed up banana while sitting on the floor, her wet hair wrapped in a towel.
Constance reveals that while the image conveys the normal daily affairs of motherhood, it was in fact an honest account of her 'getting on with it' as is quite typical of a woman.
The Australian mum writing: "Continuing to be a mother, to meet the needs of her babies – putting her grief aside."
"A woman who just got up and got dressed despite every bone in her body begging her to go back to bed and spend the day crying."
Constance was after suffering a loss, her father passing away in her arms the previous day, and through the heartache she ploughed on.
But even in such circumstances, you unfortunately learn who your friends are: "You see I had messaged every friend I knew in Melbourne that week and asked them if any of them could help me and look after my kids."
"Not one of them offered to help. Somebody even wrote back, 'sorry kids aren't my thing'. Finally one of my sister's friends offered to take them. So that I could watch my dad die in peace."
Annaliese Dent was the mum who flew in to help take care of the kids, something which Constance will never forget, forming a friendship bond that will last a lifetime.
Nonetheless, life goes on, and motherhood resumes it's normal course, because mum's don't get to spend the day in bed, just trying to cope with their grief.
"Through my broken heart I did what all mothers would do, I got up, I had a shower, mashed some bananas and kept on mothering."
"This photo is for any mother who's known loss or felt depression and internalised it for the sake of her babies. You are not alone, we are all battling by your side," concluded the mum-of-four.
Constance's post is a reminder as to why we need to keep our good friends close, appreciate the little things, and know, even through loss and grief, you are never alone.