Tribute examples for a mum or mother: ten short ones you can adapt

You might be writing something to read at your mum's funeral, putting a caption under a photo or trying to get through Mother's Day. Sometimes the hardest part is that every ready-made tribute sounds like it could be about anybody.

These ten examples are fictional. Some are affectionate, some funny and some acknowledge difficult relationships. Take what helps and change anything that doesn't sound like your mum. For a longer piece, or help with the structure, see how to write a memorial tribute for someone you love.

How to make one yours

1. Pick the tribute closest to how you feel.
2. Swap in her name, and the real details: what she cooked, what she said, where she sat.
3. Delete any sentence you would not say out loud.

Before you borrow any of these lines, think of one thing that was unmistakably hers. A small memory will usually sound more like your mum than a grand statement.

Ten short tributes

1. The everyday carer

“Mum asked if I'd eaten every time we spoke on the phone. Didn't matter if I'd just come back from dinner. She'd tell me what she'd cooked, complain about the price of tomatoes and then ask how work was going. It's strange not getting those calls.”

2. The funny one

“Mum took the television quiz seriously. She'd shout out the answers, get half of them wrong and then say the questions were badly written. We used to tease her about it. We watched it again last Sunday and it wasn't quite the same.”

3. The fierce one

“Mum always asked one more question when everyone else wanted to leave. At school I found it embarrassing. Later, when I needed to stand up for myself, I realised I'd learned a lot from watching her.”

4. The quiet one

“Mum always noticed when I sounded quiet on the phone. Sometimes she'd ask what was wrong. Other times she'd just tell me about the neighbours until I was ready to talk. I wish I could call her now.”

5. The one who worked hard

“Mum worked early shifts for years. I'd come downstairs and see her uniform gone from the radiator and a note about breakfast on the table. At the time it was just normal. I think about how tired she must have been.”

6. The person as well as the mother

“Before she was our mum she was Rosemary, who danced badly, sang worse and decided at sixty to learn the ukulele. We loved her as our mother. We are also grateful to have known the person underneath: curious, silly and entirely herself.”

7. The mother who chose you

“She was my stepmum, though I hardly ever called her that. She helped me revise for my driving test, kept embarrassing photos of me on the fridge and remembered all my friends' names. I miss her.”

8. After a long illness

“The last year was hard, and Mum would want me to say so. She would also want me to say she still corrected my grammar from a hospital bed. Illness took a great deal from her but not her sharpness, and not her love of a good argument. I am grateful for the time we had.”

If you did not get that time, or it was too sudden, write what is true for you. You can say you wish there had been more.

9. When it was complicated

“Mum and I didn't always understand each other. Sometimes we could spend an afternoon laughing and then go months without speaking. I'm still working out what I feel. Today I want to remember the good things without pretending the difficult parts weren't there.”

You do not owe anyone a fuller account than you can give. A short, honest tribute is still a tribute.

10. The first Mothering Sunday without her

“It's our first Mother's Day without you. I kept walking past the cards in the supermarket and remembering I wasn't buying one this year. I miss you, Mum.”

Days like this can be tender. Our piece on getting through birthdays, anniversaries and holidays may help.

Five single lines for a card or caption

• “I could turn up without warning and she'd still put the kettle on.”
• “Loud, loyal and always three minutes late.”
• “I still hear her saying ‘Take a coat.’”
• “I'm still making your recipes and getting them slightly wrong.”
• “Thank you for the lifts, the packed lunches and the patience.”

Where these words can go

A tribute can be read at a funeral, written in a card, posted beneath a photograph, or kept in a notebook that nobody sees. The same few lines can do all of these. If you are writing for a memorial page, what to write on an online memorial page shows where each kind of writing fits.

If you would like a place where your mum’s tribute can stay, and where other people can add their own, you can light a star for her. Family and friends can light candles and leave memories, and you control what is visible. You can start with a name and a few words, then add more later.

Finding your own words

If you're using these words at a funeral, read them aloud before the day. If it's a card or caption, you can keep it much shorter. The thing that matters is whether the words sound like you, and whether they're true to the relationship you had.