I did not want them to worry about lunch, so I told them I was taking care of it. We decided on a restaurant around the corner that served good, home-cooked meals. Beth and I got several to-go boxes, and we had a nice lunch.
People would send a lot of food, so I told Beth I would clean out the fridge. She told me to throw out anything past the expiration date.
Beth jokingly said, "When you get to Heaven, he will get on to you about throwing out perfectly good food."
Aunt June was cleaning and walked towards the foyer closet with his brown jacket. I took it and hung it up—it was probably the last jacket he wore.
“Can I do anything else?"
"You can vacuum?"
Sigh.
I wanted to help but avoided getting in their way. They also needed time to grieve and be alone—a tricky balance.
I was thinking of ways to help. Previously, I'd noticed tons of leaves on the back deck. So, the next day, I blew it off and tidied the deck.
2 comments:
One of the things my mother-in-law privately asked me to do was speak to a few funeral directors about the price of service we could get with limited resources for my father-in-law. She had mentioned this to her children months before but all of her kids was in denial. Two weeks before he died I spoke with 4 funeral directors before I found the one who would show my father-in-law before he was cremated. He had 2 life insurance policies but one was a term life and worth nothing.
After he died my mother-in-law had to only finalize a couple small details. I helped my mother-in-law with the insurance policies and filing for survivor benefits. We bought groceries or whatever she needed.
It's the small things that everyone did that mattered to her.
Thank you for your thoughts. I did not even think it would be a problem viewing a loved one before they were cremated. Wonder what the issue would be?
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