Joey Essex is one of those people. His mum Tina tragically committed suicide when he was just 10-years-old. Speaking to a UK newspaper, Joey opened up about what Mother’s Day is like for him.
“It’s not a great day for anyone who has lost their mum at any age,” he said. “I normally go to the cemetery to lay a bunch of flowers and think silent thoughts.”
Brave Joey, 23, admitted he tries his hardest not to let it affect him too much, saying: “It is what it is and I can’t change the past so I just try to pick myself back up again.”
Tina disappeared for three days in 2001, and Joey recalled his dad Donny telling him that she would be back soon.
He said: “I didn’t know where my mum was. I asked dad, ‘Where’s mummy gone?’ And he told me: ‘She’ll be back soon. I didn’t know, I was just a kid.”
Eventually, Donny had to tell Joey the truth though. “ I remember opening the door and dad standing there,” Joey said. “He just picked me up and said: ‘mum’s gone.’”
While Joey knew his mum had sadly taken her own life, for years he denied it. He said: “For the first five years, I never believed it. I knew she killed herself, but I’ve never known how.”
When he’s having a bad day, or just needs some support, Joey turns to his friend’s mums. “I can turn to them if I’m having an off-day and do all the things a mum and son might do, like go shopping of have lunch.”
Now, Joey is using his experience to raise awareness of child bereavement issues by walking 3km through Essex in a onesie.
He said: “I wouldn’t say I wear onesies that often but it’s for a good cause and I hope people will come and join me if they can.”