i read her the
obituary, saying, ‘i hope that you’re happy with these thoughts that i have shared about you and what you meant to us.’ that gave me a lot of closure.
i feel so lucky that the timing of everything [the lifting of covid visiting rules] allowed us that chance to grieve and connect as a family in the weeks before she passed.
we didn’t [have a funeral] because most of my mom’s friends are older women in their 70s and 80s, and even though we were allowed to have a get-together of about ten people, it just wasn’t enough to ensure that all the people in her orbit could be invited. we didn’t feel comfortable picking and choosing who could say goodbye and who couldn’t — it just didn’t seem right. our intention is to have a celebration of her life next easter, ideally at the retirement home where she was living.
my mom smiled at everyone, she was probably one of the youngest people there. she participated in every activity, whether it was bingo, mahjong, aquafitness. the day we cleaned out her apartment, the recreation coordinator said how much they were going to miss her because she was always the person who was gung-ho to do everything. she was always very social and friendly, smiling from ear-to-ear.