{"id":585768,"date":"2026-08-07T07:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/585768\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T07:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:44:14","slug":"erica-bracken-my-foundation-as-i-knew-it-changed-forever-when-my-mother-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/585768\/","title":{"rendered":"Erica Bracken: ‘My foundation as I knew it changed forever when my mother died’"},"content":{"rendered":"

My mom, Finola Halbert Bracken, passed away suddenly on August 11, 2024. She and the rest of my family were on Tr\u00e1lispean beach, West Cork. They\u2019d been in the water, and she got into difficulty.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t there. I was in Lisbon, where I\u2019ve lived for three years. My parents, brother, Sam, his wife and daughter, my sister and her three children were all in West Cork, which through our childhood had been our summer holiday base.<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e1lispean, we went to many times growing up, a stony beach down a winding road.<\/p>\n

I was always very aware of what Mom was doing \u2014 we were constantly in contact \u2014 our lives woven, threaded together. I woke early that morning to do a photo shoot in a park in Lisbon. I\u2019d only just finished, at midday, when Mom texted: \u2018Morning love, hectic as you can imagine here with looking after the kids but that\u2019s what this holiday is all about, hope you had an early night last night and the journey was good. How has your morning been?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"EricaErica Bracken said losing her mother has shown her both the fragility of life as well as love\u2019s deep endurance. Picture: Erica Bracken.<\/p>\n

I attempted to call her, failed, I tried again, 31 seconds long that call, the reception was poor \u2014 she was in the car going to the beach. I texted: \u2018I can call you later x. I know you\u2019re busy with the kids.\u2019 I was content, knowing she was happy, I wanted her to be present with the kids, not be worrying trying to call me. For Mom, family being together, the kids being around, was just the pinnacle of life \u2014 she had very simple priorities for life: family, love. That\u2019s how she operated.<\/p>\n

For her last day to be with all of them in a place she \u2014 and we \u2014 had grown up going on holiday, near the ocean she loved, kids all around, picnic in the back of the car, it really was her perfect day. Just throwing herself into the middle of all that fullness of family.<\/p>\n

I went for a nap after our texts. I\u2019d been travelling the day before. I woke between 3 and 4pm to lots of missed calls, messages from my family, not saying anything but asking me to call them\u2026 a message from my aunt mentioned her sons could collect me from the airport\u2026 things rush through your head.<\/p>\n

I called Sam. He asked was I sitting down, was there somebody near who could come to the house. He said \u2018Mom is dead\u2019. I can\u2019t remember exactly\u2026 he gave some details\u2026 He\u2019d done CPR while waiting for the first responders to arrive \u2014 it was too remote to bring her to hospital.<\/p>\n

The West Cork Rapid Response (WCRR) team arrived, took over from Sam and assured him he\u2019d done everything possible. Mom was unconscious; despite everyone\u2019s best efforts, she didn\u2019t survive. She passed away on the beach in Tr\u00e1lispean. I spoke to my dad on the same phone call \u2014 he told me how beautiful she looked.<\/p>\n

\"EricaErica Bracken on how losing her mother has shown her both the fragility of life as well as love\u2019s deep endurance. Picture: Erica Bracken<\/p>\n

The rest of that day was complete shock and disbelief, trying to make sense not just of what had happened, but even of life \u2014 where it goes when it ends in this form we can see.<\/p>\n

I had to do the formalities: Put on out-of-office, book flights, walk the dog. Sitting with my friend on a bench in that same park I\u2019d been in earlier \u2014 no one around knew what had happened; the world kept spinning. Our lives were so knit together for 32 years, and now I was moving forward without her here. My foundation as I knew it changed forever, a completely new way of existence.<\/p>\n

Since that day, I understand every day is a gift. We\u2019re only guaranteed the breath we\u2019re experiencing \u2014 everything can change in a second. That\u2019s incredibly sad, but empowering to understand. It helps you live more fully. As a yoga teacher, I\u2019ve studied the concept of the spirit living beyond our physical body. I believe that. This experience has really integrated it for me. From a place of knowing to understanding, from head to heart.<\/p>\n

I now understand the thread moving through life, and beyond, is love. My mother left the most incredible legacy of love that continues to thread through all of us. How I was loved by her is embedded in me \u2014 informs how I live. I feel our purpose here is to love, be kind. The only thing that matters is how we make people feel.<\/p>\n

Two years later, it still doesn\u2019t feel real that someone so vibrant could be gone. But also I feel her with me.<\/p>\n

Everywhere, always. I wake up every morning and still speak to her. Though my earthly relationship with her has ended, I really feel our relationship has evolved. That whatever you call it \u2014 energy, spirit, love, soul \u2014 doesn\u2019t end. I feel her love with me.<\/p>\n

The run we\u2019re doing for West Cork Rapid Response coincides almost with her anniversary. It\u2019s a ceremony in honour of how she lived. Offering the proceeds from it to WCRR is something she\u2019d be proud of. Hopefully it will extend other families\u2019 opportunity to be together. And it will be part of this legacy of love and care that she left.<\/p>\n

Sam Bracken today runs 100km from Glenville, North Cork, to Tr\u00e1lispean beach, West Cork, in memory of his mum and in aid of West Cork Rapid Response, a team of volunteer-trained professionals who attend emergencies all over West Cork. Fundraising proceeds go directly to WCRR\u2019s work. Visit www.idonate.ie\/fundraiser\/sambracken.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My mom, Finola Halbert Bracken, passed away suddenly on August 11, 2024. She and the rest of my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37325,61997,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-585768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-opinion","tag-what-a-difference-a-day-makes","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}