My major influence in my life is absolutely undoubtedly my mother. Her life was really difficult. She married my father and that didn't last too long. They were divorced when I was one and a half and she was thrust into single motherhood.
The thing with my mother that is so special is that she allowed me to be me, she allowed me to develop into the person who I am today. She gave me guidance but she let me be creative. When I was four years old, we went shopping together and she said: "Honey you can pick out anything you want and put it together anyway you want, nothing is wrong, paisley can go with stripes, stripes can go with checks. All the colours can clash - it doesn't matter."
She taught me to express who I am with no parameters. Then when I was growing up, she saw what I was naturally good at naturally, she encouraged it and nurtured it and when I finally left home and I joined The Fall and moved to Manchester, she let me go. All she asked was for me to have a round trip ticket in case it didn't work out. That's what a great mother does. Let's the child become the person they're meant to be.
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