Jasmine Kemsley (back) celebrating her grandmother’s 80th birthday. Photo: Jasmine Kemsley.
It will be Mother’s Day as close to the old days as possible for Jasmine Kemsley.
The Canberra mother-of-two was at the centre of a hugely popular post on the Canberra Notice Board Group on Facebook in late April after she summoned up the courage to share how she was “looking for a grandma to gift a Mother’s Day present to”.
“Without going into too much detail … I’m essentially looking to fill a hole in someone’s heart that is similar to mine, but opposite,” Jasmine wrote.
The rest of the post explained how Jasmine had lost her grandma last year, “my best friend” and the person who “alongside my mum, raised me from when I was a baby”, and this Mother’s Day, the grief “is hitting me more … than I was expecting”.
“Not only this year, she isn’t here to pass a gift on to. It will be my first birthday without her around as well … She was meant to be here.”
This week, Jasmine told Region she found her match much quicker than expected.
“An older lady privately messaged me to put her hand up for her friend,” she said.
“Before she even went into detail, I just had this feeling in my gut that I needed to pick her. We hadn’t even gone deep into conversation yet, and I just knew it needed to be her.”
The family of Jasmine’s new adopted grandmother has had to leave Canberra suddenly to get treatment for a grandchild who’s fighting cancer.
“This lady … is alone without her family, and she is living each day worried about her grandson. That alone hit home for me having my own medical child,” Jasmine said.
Her Nanna died in July 2024 after a long battle with cancer.
Jasmine said it was still “absolutely so unexpected”.
“None of us were ready.”
Jasmine with her grandmother. Photo: Jasmine Kemsley.
Jasmine said she decided to reach out to the Canberra community, despite the awkwardness, because she wanted to still share Mother’s Day with a grandmother.
“I needed to find someone and felt that was the only way I could do so,” she said.
“A lot of people recommended nursing homes, but I know if I had turned up to a nursing home, I would’ve felt so sad and wanted to give love to absolutely everyone in there.”
Jasmine wrote on Facebook that she was “looking for someone who is in need, a grandma possibly who is also grieving, someone who needs this extra love”.
“I have bought everything I would have bought for my grandma, and I would love to gift it to someone deserving.”
The post racked up nearly 1000 reactions and 100 comments in a matter of hours.
She’s not completely sure what future Mother’s Days with her new adopted grandmother will be like, but this year, she’ll prefer to “take it easy”.
“Mother’s Day this year is also my birthday; I’m actually not sure what we are going to do.”
Photo: Jasmine Kemsley.
As for those who might find themselves facing Mother’s Day on their own this year?
“Personally, I’ve noticed that when I am doing things for other people or reaching out to the community and helping others, it just restores a little bit of happiness into me.
“So I suppose, if someone is suffering, if there is something out there that is going to restore just that tiny bit of happiness – even if it’s just 1 per cent to you – just do it.”
