An important woman

There are some very important female figures in my life - my grandmother, some aunts, Lindsay and her tattoo - and each of them is very precious to me in their own way and for their own reasons.
But tonight I went to the 50th birthday party of a woman who is truly remarkable. She is truly remarkable to me for one particular reason: her consistent and unwavering life-long belief in me.
Glenys is married to my father's cousin. We're not even particularly close relations, in that sense. But when I was a child we spent a lot of time with Alex and Glenys and their boys. Even as a very young child she used to pay me extra attention. I mean this is a woman who loved me and I felt that love very strongly.
By the time I was probably in my early teens things had gone the way they so often did with my mother. They were suddenly and inexplicably out of favour. We didn't see them any more. As a child you just sort of accept it. It goes to the back of your mind. Such a long time ago now. Such a chequered family history. So much time lost and so many regrets.
A good five years ago now, though, things changed. Suddenly we were free to see whomsoever we wanted - and Alex and Glenys became a part of my life again. Not regularly. Not anywhere near often enough - but just enough to keep ourselves relatively up-to-date.
Every greeting has been warm, every question and enquiry has been genuine, every gesture has been kind and heart-felt. I get warm hugs off this woman. The hugs a mother gives a son. It's that kind of warmth. At every turn she tells me how proud she is of me, begs me to see her more often, and lets me know how special she believes I am.
After a gap in the middle of my life of perhaps a decade she picked right back up where she left off and said 'welcome home Dan, I love you, I've missed you'.
Maybe it's because she looks like my mother or is around the same age as her or reminds me of happier times when I was young (yes, I'm feel wistful, can't you tell?), but to have a woman of that age feel so maternal towards me, feel so unerringly proud of me... well it makes me choke up. I want to cry a little. Her belief in me seems absolute. And it makes me feel like I can actually go out and do the things she thinks I can.
But before you think it's all just good for the ego, can I say I nearly died tonight when she asked me to sign Outback House merchandise in front of a dozen of her guests.