Amie’s special day with bittersweet tinge
PROUD mum Amie Rohan reflects on Mother’s Day with a bittersweet mix of emotions.
Ms Rohan is grateful to be the mother of Bella, 4, and Sadie, 2, the children she shares with her former husband, Geelong forward Gary Rohan.
But she also feels sad remembering their baby Willow – Bella’s twin – who passed away in 2018 hours after birth with a neural tube defect with no cure, known as anencephaly.
“The more years that pass, the more subtle the emotions are,’’ she said.
“But it’s always there. Like any other special moment where I wish she was here, I feel her presence.
“We were at the park last week and the sun was setting and Bella was playing on the flying fox and I was looking at the girls thinking, she’s always there. She’s just sun shining down on us. It’s the motivation behind everything I do.”
Ms Rohan, who lives in the Geelong region, said Mother’s Day was “always a bittersweet day”.
“I try not to let the bittersweetness get me down,” she said.
“I just try and be grateful for what I have. The fact I even got to meet her.
“There are mums out there who don’t even get to meet their babies.
“I just try to find the good in the situation we had. Some people don’t even get that.”
On Sunday, Ms Rohan will be with her mother and daughters, who she says have helped her heal.
And she can now look forward with a happy heart, having met a new man in February after separating from the footballer in 2020.
“It’s nice but keeping it to myself, I’ve got to have one piece of my life that isn’t for everyone else,’’ she said.
“It’s made me realise I’m normal and I’m not a broken soul that’s not loveable. It’s exciting.”
For Mother’s Day, Ms Rohan is partnering with Special, a new personalised gift card that is backed by CBA, has no expiry date and is available at 220,000 retailers nationally.
She has detailed her pain since losing Willow and wants to continue speaking up to help others.
“I’m just an open healer and I’m also a helper and I care,’’ she said.
“If I’m helping someone else, I feel so honoured.
“I’m also sitting down and starting to jot down a how-to guide of how to come back from the worst day of your life and that’s going to be a little mission.”