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Writer shares delightful quotes from his 'mum' from before she died, and people are in love

Darby Hudson's mother had a uniquely wonder-filled perspective that has people laughing and crying.

Courtesy of Darby Hudson/Instagram

Darby Hudson's mom said the most profound things in the simplest way.

This world is filled with all kinds of people, each a mixed bag of qualities and quirks, virtues and vices. This "being human" business is complex and none of us has everything figured out, but sometimes a person comes along who's able to tap into the magical, wonder-filled side of life and express it in a way that touches people universally.

Darby Hudson's mom—hereby known as "Mum"—was one of those people, and we're all getting to know her posthumously through her delightful "Alive things Mum said to me before she died" quotes shared by Hudson. Gems like this:

"Darby, love, there's so much sadness in the world yet I'm always falling in love with the day. There's almost too much to fall in love with."

"Darby, love, I'm struggling to fit this one life into this one life. But sometimes I feel this weightless heaviness for all the lives I wish I'd lived. But then I think in all those lives I'd have still seen the same moon at night."

quotes, inspiration, darby hudson, darby love, momAll of Mum's quotes begin with "Darby, love…"Courtesy of Darby Hudson/Instagram

"Darby, love, sometimes I think I'm just too alive. Is there such a thing as being too alive?"

"Darby, love, there is so much beauty in the world. Also, I hope you've been keeping up with the politics in this country, terrible things are happening. Oh, look at that cloud, it looks like a pelican! Do you see it too, love?!"

"Darby, love, when you go for a walk remember to tell things you love them aloud: trees, clouds, fire hydrants. Tell all the things you love them."

"Darby, love, life is a walk in the park. But with rabid stray dogs and someone going to mug you. But on a beautiful day, of course, and that's all that matters."

Some of the quotes are breathtakingly beautiful snippets of reflective wisdom, like "Darby, love, everything you need is inside of you. How do you look inside of you? When you no longer have a choice." And some of them are a whole different kind of wisdom, such as: "Darby, love, never apologise then fart."

Hudson tells Upworthy that his mom loved books, especially mythology, poetry, and the classics. She had been a librarian, a high school teacher, and then a barrister (a lawyer, for the Americans reading).

"She was a bit of a dreamer yet strangely operated in the brutal world of logic," Hudson says, adding, "Barristers need to turn sentences into a form of algebra to be able to argue." He thinks her being Irish helped her in that work.

Like many people who shine brightly, Hudson's mom could also fall into deep despair. As their relationship grew closer in adulthood, Hudson learned how he could tap into her bright side to help pull her from the darkness.

quotes, inspiration, darby hudson, darby love, mom"See which emotion wins."Courtesy of Darby Hudson/Instagram

"She lived like a bit of a hermit and a local eccentric into her old age," he tells Upworthy. "She was a little sideways and taught me a lot about how to view the world and we often completed each others' thoughts. Later in life, I felt like she was less my mum and more my 'sister' and that's when our relationship got a lot better! As long as I could lure her into a sense of play, she would move from her darkness and hopeless view of the world and into a sense of magic. We all have those two sides—one of politics and one of magic. Her magic side was beautiful!"

Hudson collected all of her quotes in a book, "DARBY, LOVE..." which he said came to him during the time between Christmas and New Year's, when "days of the week don’t exist and you could feel politics drop away and magic return." He wrote in the introduction:

"Mum was a stranger to this world – she belonged to one of magic and dreams. On her good days, she was unstoppable, pure spirit. And while her darkness was pure despair, almost out of necessity, it was countered with the most incredible light. And in these current times – a world that can feel so dark – I wanted to share mum’s brightest self.

These pages hold the truth of most of what mum did and said – but they’re also an inspired love letter to her voice, channelling and capturing the spirit of the strangest, most poetic soul I’ve ever known. Some of the most 'famous' people I’ve ever met have no followers, no audience. Mum was one. I was lucky to call her mum, even if her lingering spirit still drives me up the wall sometimes."

People have been moved by both Hudson's mum's words and his celebration of her "magic."

"Darby love, this is the single most beautiful thing I’ve encountered on my device today. I’m going to jump offline now, for fear of ruining this magic - will return tomorrow for more musings (and after I’ve told the lizards on my walk that I love them)."

"What a blessing to have a mother with such a lovely spirit, so funny yet full of wisdom. My favorite: 'Darby, love, I often get the feeling that there's something very wrong with me and then another feeling comes rushing in from behind saying there's something very right with me.' That says it all about her personality 💜✨ Thanks for sharing! She must be tremendously missed, but you're keeping her essence alive!"

"Your mum’s thoughts sound so beautiful. How often have I thought to myself 'I’m struggling to fit this one life into this one life' so perfectly stated."

"I’ve never missed anyone I’ve never met before. How bout that!"

quotes, inspiration, darby hudson, darby love"Don't let it explain the magic away."Courtesy of Darby Hudson/Instagram

"I am pretty sure I love your mum. These are some of the best things I’ve ever read. Being a mother myself. In my mind possibly with the same colorful, mysterious and beautiful outlook on life and hope to have my 'legacy' of expression passed down to my children 💕"

"Your mum's words are like a eating a bowl of chicken noodle soup while being held. I want to smile and cry at the same time."

"The best thing I’ve ever read in a long time. Darby, love, you got lucky with that one."

What better way to honor the unique light a loved one brought to the world than to share glimmers of their everyday brilliance? Thank you for sharing your mum's words with us, Darby. May we all take her magical whimsy and beautiful perspective on life to heart.


You can find more of Darby Hudson's work on Instagram and find his book, "DARBY, LOVE…" here.

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Mom removed young daughter's mustache after she was bullied, sparking debate

It's an experience many girls can relate to.

Image via Canva

Mom removes young daughter's mustache after she is bullied.

Kids can find plenty of reasons to bully one another, and for many young girls, an easy target for bullies is making fun of dark hair or peach fuzz above the upper lip.

Rather than let her daughter's 'mustache' subject her to ridicule from her classmates, mom Aubrye (@eyrbua) shared on TikTok that she decided to remove it. It's a decision that's sparked debate among other parents.

"My daughter came home from school one day crying saying kids were making fun of her mustache and asked me to 'take it off," she shared in the video's caption.

@eyrbua

#girlmom #girlhood #momsoftiktok #parentsoftiktok #daughter #momanddaughter #fyp #girls #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #blowthisupforme

In the video, Aubrye can be seen removing her daughter's unwanted facial hair in the video while the song "Being a Girl" by Jonica plays in the background. In the caption, she explains her decision to take off the extra peach fuzz: "I reassured her that she was beautiful no matter what but if she wanted me to to take it off for her to feel better I'd do that," she writes.

She ends the caption with a closing statement to solidify the choice: "I always want my baby to feel beautiful and confident."

In the comment section, Aubrye added an update on how it made her daughter feel. "Since doing it, her confidence is through the roof, her grades have gotten better and she comes home from school happy all the time. Definitely worth seeing my little girl happy," she wrote.


mustache, girl, gif, tiktok, debateGirl Illustration GIF by Valérie BoivinGiphy

Many parents were supportive of Aubrye's decision.

"Thank you for helping her instead of just telling her to suck it up."

"I would never understand mothers who refuse to let their daughters shave."

"This is how you parent correctly. My daughter came home complaining about her eyebrows saying people were making fun of her. So I cleaned them up for her," one parent shared, to which Aubrye replied, "You’re a great mama 🩷 I always want to support my daughters and help their confidence any way I can."

applause, praise, gif, support, clapJennifer Lopez Applause GIF by NBC World Of DanceGiphy

Others were more conflicted about it:

"I also have a small daughter but I don't know how I feel about it because okay she took her little mustache off but what's next? If they don't like something else about her, she's gonna try to keep changing for these kids. She should just learn to be a little tougher. Or maybe just go to the school directly. I don't know I feel so conflicted."

"Personally, I’d be teaching my kid to verbally and if necessary physically stand up to bullies. Teaching them that conventional beauty is fake. It’s made up. My kid should not be shaving or changing her body in ANY way. Just to accommodate someone else’s opinions of them. To me, that just teaches them to do that their whole lives. I’d rather teach my kid to clock a bully than be a doormat."

"My daughter has been bullied for the same reason! But I have taught her to always say my mustache makes me special 🥰 and it has worked for her confidence to have a cute mustache🥸."

Whether people agreed or disagreed with her decision to remove her daughter's mustache, the post resonated with many women who grew up with the same experience:

"Ok so I’m 52 and this is me. Kids use to bully me for having a mustache and unibrow. This was back in the 80s. Kid were even meaner. Thank you for hearing her. And helping her. No one helped me," one wrote.

Another shared, "I got bullied for my mustache. Didn’t shave it until an adult and only to scrape the dead skin off. Teach your kids to love themselves. They’d say 'you’re a girl, why do you have a mustache?!'"

"My mom never let me and she doesn’t know how much it affected me that she didn’t," shared one more.

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34-year-old mom learns how to ride a bike for the first time alongside her 6-year-old daughter

"I discovered that we’re never too old, too late, or too far gone to try something new."

Photo by KBO Bike on Unsplash

Mom learns how to ride a bike at 34 alongside her 6-year-old daughter.

Learning how to ride a bike is a huge milestone in childhood. Battling through the challenge of balance while pedaling and proper steering to find yourself cruising on a bike is an accomplishment to be celebrated. But not everyone can say they mastered bike riding young.

Instagrammer Sazan Hendrix (@sazan) opened up to her followers about her experience learning to ride a bike when she was 34 years old. The journey challenged her role as a mom, and how she pushed past her own ego about failure and embarrassment to accomplish her goal.

"One year ago, I learned how to ride a bike! Yup at 34, with my 6-year-old cheering me on (and teaching me, if we’re being honest ha)," she wrote in the post's caption. "I discovered that we’re never too old, too late, or too far gone to try something new. Consider this your sign. What is something you want to accomplish this year!? 🥳"

In the post, Hendrix shared that she had always been scared of riding a bike, but decided to conquer it when her six-year-old daughter Teeny decided she was ready how to learn. "Suddenly, I didn't want to just watch her do it. I wanted to go alongside her," she wrote.

So, she went for it. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. She struggled to learn, and that brought up an internal battle. "But I was so in my head. Every fall made me feel like a failure. I couldn't master it. Week after week, I practiced. And week after week, I got nowhere," she shared.

She continues to explain how her hardship challenged her not to give up just for herself, but also for her daughter. "I felt defeated. Embarrassed. I was moments away from giving up. But I couldn't because she was watching. So I had to keep going," she wrote. "And in the process of learning, we both fell...together. Scraped knees. Bruised egos. Wobbly starts. But I think watching me try, fail and get back up again quietly told her, 'You can too.'"

The story didn't go the way she thought. While she struggled to master riding, her daughter Teeny got it. And her daughter became her biggest cheerleader. "'Mommy, just watch me and copy my footsteps!' So I did. That same day, the day she mastered it...I humbly did too," she explained. "We rode side by side, our wheels spinning in sync, like a moment heaven had written just for us."

Hendrix goes on to describe how parents are, most times, the ones doing the teaching when it comes to their kids. But not so in this case. "My daughter taught me. She reminded me: you're never too young or too old to try something new, face a fear, or keep pedaling after you fall."

On another slide, she shares that since then, she has shared so many biking adventures with her family. The experience made her a better mom. "Best of all I get to carry this story in my pocket. Holding onto it for the days when my kids reach a mountain that feels too big. I'll get to say: 'Remember when Mom learned how to ride a bike at 34?'" she wrote.

The experience also healed Hendrix's inner child who struggled to believe she could learn to ride and made it so that her daughter Teeny got to meet the little girl inside her. "So here's your sign. Go try the thing. Pick up the hobby. Do it scared. Laugh while you learn. You're not too late. You're right on time," she ended the post.

Her vulnerable post had a huge impact on her followers.

"😭😭😭😭 I'm crying. I'm 34 and I still don’t know how to ride a bike, never was taught though I had one growing up. This is inspiring," one wrote.

Another added, "Saz, not you making me cry with this wholesome story about Teeny giving your inner child permission to learn something new. 🥹😭"

And another shared, "What a beautiful core memory that you both will always remember. 😭😭😭"

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Woman scared to tell her Korean mom she was laid off surprised by her gentle and loving response

"Don't cry, you got this!"

complanie/TikTok

TikToker @complanie tells her Korean mom she was laid off, is met with love and encouragement.

Getting laid off is scary and emotional for many reasons. The news of getting laid off usually comes as a shock, and plants seeds of uncertainty and fear.

For TikToker Lanie (@complanie), one of the hardest parts of her recent lay off was delivering the news to her Korean mother. Although Lanie anticipated the call not going well, she was surprised and comforted when she was met with kind and encouraging words from her mom.

"i was SUPER nervous to call my mom/family bc i felt like a disappointment and failure for my lay offs but it went way better than i couldve imagined! sorry for all the snot and ugly crying hehe," she captioned the video.

@complanie

i was SUPER nervous to call my mom/family bc i felt like a disappointment and failure for my lay offs but it went way better than i couldve imagined! sorry for all the snot and ugly crying hehe #laidoff #layoffs #fyp #korean #koreanmom

Lanie begins the video by sharing that she needs to tell her mom that she got laid off, and that "this is not going to be an easy call." She decides to FaceTime her mom, and the two catch up with a few pleasantries in Korean. Although she tries to hold it together, when her mom asks her if there is a specific reason she called, Lanie begins to get emotional. "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Is there a problem? What's going on? Tell mom," her mom says in a concerned tone.

Lanie nods her head and gives herself a moment to find her words. "I really didn't want to tell you this, but today I got laid off from my job," Lanie tells her mom. "I know you're always worrying about how I'm doing and making rent, and I don't want to burden you with more worries. I wasn't going to tell you at first."

Her mom comforts Lanie as she speaks. "No it's okay. You can't not tell me this!" she says, and Lanie replies, "Exactly! You're my mom so I did want to tell you."

@complanie

Replying to @K E L L Y dropping some lore on my umma! @Tomato Japanese Grocery please go support her store 💖🥹 #fyp #korean #japanese #mom #umma

Their conversation continues, and Lanie's mom gives her the most encouraging speech. "Don't cry, you got this! You're going to find another job, don't worry. It's okay, don't cry," she says before asking if she's handled logistics like filing for unemployment. "Mom and dad have never been worried about your future. We know it will all work out for you."

Lanie responds emotionally, "Thank you, I'm so thankful that you said that." And her mom adds, "You're going to find something even better, don't worry."

@complanie

EVERYTHING WILL BE GWENCHANA #fyp #gwenchana #korean

Lanie agrees, saying, "I've been working hard, but I'm going to work even harder now. And I'm going to find my place in this world." Her mom adds, "Everyone deals with something like this at least once in their lives, but it'll make you even stronger. So, don't feel too discouraged. This is an opportunity for better possibilities to come your way. Tell mom if there's anything you need, okay?"

Her mom encourages her to take care of herself. "Catch up on all the sleep you've been missing. I bet the flowers in front of the library have bloomed. Go visit the garden!"

Lanie writes in the video's caption, "Me sobbing bc the kind support is overwhelming to me," as she apologizes to her mom for still feeling like a failure. But her mom isn't having it. "Fighting! I love you and cheer up."

The heartwarming exchange between Lanie and her mom resonated deeply with viewers.

"Sobbing, I was also laid off and your moms words are so encouraging and she is totally right ❤️let’s find something better 🤝✨," one wrote.

Another commented, "The way I teared up with you🥺🥺 she’s right— in this economy, I know SO many people who have been laid off. It’s not a reflection of you, it’s a reflection of our current society! You’ve got this❤️."

And another viewer added, "is she available for other facetimes? Asking for me…"

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