My attempt to seek advice on this topic follows on from my post "Mother with narcissistic and histrionic traits reported me to the police. Any advice?"
All my friends, and all those who replied to my above post, are in support of me and have said "do not talk to your mom anymore". Your advice is sought on the "funeral" issue as you probably hold more experience in these issues than my friends do.
The situation in short. My 80yr old (adoptive) mother has put me through hell since I was a kid, and recently her behavior moved to extreme (everyone I know says this is one of the worst cases they've heard of). I "was" the "door-mat", sorting out her affairs since a kid (all but housework). Mom is Italian and only speaks pigeon English and she has an intellectual disorder, and personality disorders. Time and time again I was abused to a severe level (not physically). What I was subjected to, especially recently, falls in the "extreme" category. Loss of job, loss of money (50K), and mom told proven lies to the police, and even suicide intention at one point (I got help for this). Mom did not give 2 "rats" about me, only HER needs mattered.
I am an only child. The only people who talk to my mom are:
- My son (who is abroad in the UK teaching)
- A small few of my mom's relatives on my dad's side, by phone only (sister in law, and a couple of nephews) - they rarely see her in person.
I, her sister and her biological nieces (her sister's kids) DO NOT speak to her.
Now, I hold a PhD, so I'm not silly - I am the keeper of all the 1) family history 2) family information 3) ability to get things done. My (adoptive) dad's funeral, I organized entirely. I even quit my job when he was dying, to provide help. Dad died of asbestos cancer, and at this time through lawyers I got mom and dad $400, 000 of compensation! Everyone said the funeral was excellent! I went above and beyond in all respects.
I was her POA (at her request), but I removed that after the horrific incident she subjected me to last year.
My son and other people probably would not even be able to put together any eulogy etc. Their knowledge of mom's life history is limited.
I do not speak with any (adoptive) family either now. They saw my mother treat me badly, and they did the same. ONLY when they need something did they make contact with me. I now keep more in contact with my biological/real father.
WHO is going to organize the funeral? Mom is only getting sicker, and the day will come in the next few months or years.
I had read books about doing the right thing even if abused, to break the cycle of abuse, BUT the abuse led me to experience severe negative outcomes in the end.
WHO is going to organize the funeral?
I will not do it. I can't face this.
The most dutiful daughter (me), was turned into someone who now cannot partake any longer. I cannot get sicker, as I've already lost job and 30kg of weight at what she recently put me through.
I want to be prepared for what to do.
Should I say to my son (whom is overseas), look it's up to you now. He lived with mom for a few years because his university was 2 mins away from her house. He reaped many benefits from this - free accommodation and meals fully prepared for him etc. That was mom's choice, not mine, to do everything for him.
Should I hand this over to a funeral director and provide contacts of relatives for them to contact, to write the eulogy etc.?
Other option(s)?
I won't be there and I want no part of it, after what she did to me. I will get even sicker than I am. I will not be contacting any family to tell them the news. I did all of this with dad's death, BUT I won't be doing it for mom.
IDEAS? I sincerely appreciate this, with my heart.
PS mom already has an expensive pre-paid plot at the cemetery.
And why do you think Mom cannot cut you out of her Will? Did Dad stipulate something in his Will that Mom must follow through on in her Will? Does your State/Country say that children must inherit? It does not matter how her previous Wills were written, a new one revokes them.
When her husband died, a relative of mine had no funeral, obituary, or even notified his relatives (they did not contact him while he had a long battle with cancer).
Since I have terminal cancer, my son and I have planned my final journey. I will be cremated with ashes scattered in the mountains. No funeral or any service. Obituary published in two newspapers. He will send text messages to a few people to notify I have passed. There is no need to waste money on a funeral, because the last of my close friends died a few years ago and most of my relatives are too old to travel the distance.
Please don’t worry anymore about what to do about your mother. Life is too short to waste on some people.
"WHO is going to organize the funeral ?"
"I will not do it. I can't face this."
OK, So when mom dies, whenever that is... How will you know? Who will notify you?
And when the news comes...
You treat it as though it was a stranger's death.
You tell the messenger: Thanks for letting me know, but you should contact someone else because I am not in charge of any burial or funeral arrangement.
You don't do anything.
You don't call anyone, relative or funeral director.
You don't answer calls from anyone that wants to rope you in.
You don't ask yourself who's doing this or that about the funeral.
You put it out of your mind.
You go about your life as usual.
You tell yourself: I'm free of that awful woman.
You tell yourself: That chapter of my life is now done and closed.
You tell yourself: I will have a drink to toast a fresh beginning.
I hope your relationship with your bio father is a good one.
I will no doubt be notified because I'm on the past 2 wills. Even if she takes me off, I need to be notified !
xxxxxxxxx thank-you!!
If anyone asks, you say "funeral services are private," have her cremated (or do whatever she paid for, NOT your money), then have the cemetery bury her, then walk away.
No services are required, no obituaries need to be placed, and you're done.
My grandfather abandoned his family when my dad was five years old. He drifted around for years being useless, then ended up living with his sister. He's now a box of ashes sharing space in his own father's grave because no one was going to put out money for his burial. We wouldn't even know that much except I was at the cemetery doing family research, and the office there had his name and date of burial handwritten on the 3x5 card with his dad's plot information. That's the extent of memorializing he got, and it's about as much as he was worth. No headstone, no nothing.
I say cremate Mom, put her in with Dad, and sell the pricey plot.
Some cemeteries require a "vault" to be purchased to place an urn into the ground, similar the the "vault" used for a casket but much smaller size.
Some cemeteries could required something in writing from the person who is buried in a casket, prior to his/her passing.
Some cemeteries require a special type of urn used for burial.
OR order up a simple cremation, without services. I had this for my VERY MUCH beloved brother. We had all the joy of our lives while he was living. As the undertaker and poet Thomas Lynch says (I recommend reading him) "the dead don't care. When someone is dead there is nothing you can do ABOUT them, WITH them, FOR them, TO them that will make a particle of difference.
You have tried. Let it go.
There was some talk of not having a funeral, but simply a short graveside service. Only the fact that it's going to be 101 degrees next Tues kept us from doing an all 'outdoors' event.
You do not have to have a funeral. You don't even have to have a service of any kind. A mortuary will handle everything for you and you don't have to even be there.
I'm going through all the feels right now. Anger, a little at the messy, messy apartment she left us to clean out. Frustration b/c she 'willed' the same thing over and over to different people. Sadness, b/c, well, at the end of the day, she WAS my mom. Gratitude that we were on good terms (not always the case) when she passed---you get where I am going with this?
Societal expectations play a big role in our "western way' of mourning and grieving. and of last expectations by the 'world'. Already we've had a bit if drama as mom's sister won't fly and would have to drive from San Antonio--so of course she's mad and not coming.
I'm exhausted and she didn't even live with me.
If it were just me, then there would have been a short graveside service and that would have been fine.
I'm one of 5 living kids, so my 'vote' is just that, one vote.
During COVID, I guess there were more and more 'private' services and I think we won't see that pendulum swing back completely again.
Go with your heart on this. To make a fuss over the passing of someone who was not, in your book, the person they should have been is kind of galling and doesn't feel right.
When my uncle (a HORRIBLE person) died, there were 15 people at his funeral. 15 mourners, and a handful of mortuary employees. Shortest funeral on record.