Rest In Peace Mom

My brother Alex, my Mom Kim & myself at her 50th birthday celebration.

This is a dedication to my mother Kim Collins (Roberts), who passed away on 30 June 2016 at the age of 58. She was born in 1958.

The second time the cancer came knocking, we got her on the cannabis oil & we were overjoyed when it worked. She was so brave, as you may or may not know cannabis is still illegal in South Africa; nonetheless, she went on national television with her story about the Phoenix Tears:

Unfortunately not all the cancer was eradicated & it came back a year later after my beloved Mom had stopped taking the oil. This time it was too late.

I wrote this piece to be read at her memorial service today at the Bluff National Park Golf Club back in my hometown of Durban, South Africa:

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Hello all, greetings from Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.. the other side of the world. It has been about eight years since I was in South Africa, since I saw my mother, Kim. Not having been able to come back home & be by her side for the last few months has been most painful to say the least, but a mere nothing compared to what she has had to deal with.

Kim is, was & always will be Bat's & my Mother; a more wonderful woman we could not have asked for. I know that all of you sitting here today know how amazing she was so I'm not going to just go on about how freaking amazing she was, as well as crazy beautiful. I'm not going just waft on & on about how random guys would pop out of nowhere with bouquets of flowers & silly grins while she was dragging us kids around town, shopping. I'll also not ramble on about how she kicked ass at everything she tried, like starting at her company as a book-keeper back when I was early days Glenwood High & owning the same company by the time I was out of school; or the time she tried golf, and was Ladies team captain next thing I heard. No, I'll just say that she was the light in our lives, holding everything together. I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to go on without her. I would not have been in such a rush to leave home had I known she would be leaving us so soon. I definitely would have stayed.

Please forgive me for not being there today, I wish things were different & that I could deliver this speech in person, that I could be at home celebrating our Mom's life together today at this memorial. I am sure I would recognize most of you from my childhood on the Bluff, and to you all I would like to give a huge thanks for being such an integral part of her life. She loved her friends & had quite a social life while I was growing up, I'm sure that never changed. She loved her family too & let me tell you, did she know how to make a birthday or Christmas seem like the most magical experience- She loved making those celebrations unforgettable to us kids & I hope to continue that tradition in her honour when its my turn.

Desre told me that my Mom really wanted to see me find the woman I want to marry & start a family with. Just when my Mom was getting sick again there for the last time, I got engaged. I don't know if she heard the news, I hope she did. Next year I'll be marrying the most wonderful woman I've met out here, the daughter of a violin-maker, the bass player in my band, Carina Mach. A beautiful Love. I've finally found a safe & beautiful place to raise a family, so I plan to do just that, and in so doing, to carry the memory of the most beautiful South African Queen, our beloved mother Kim Collins into a new generation on the other side of the world.

A few days after Mom passed, my sweet Carina & I went into the mountains to write a song for her. I've been in the studio recording it since we got back. Carina just laid the bass down this morning, Pacific time. It's called Mother Garvies:



In Loving Memory of our beloved Kim Collins.
We will always remember you Mom.