Social media users are praising the author of an obituary for a journalist’s mother because they were expertly able to cry and laugh at the same time.
The touching essay was written by Caity Weaver, a 33-year-old New York Times reporter, following the death of her mother, Dr. Maureen Brennan-Weaver, on June 14 at the age of 65. After reading Weaver’s obituary in Pennsylvania’s Patriot News, the writer published it on Twitter, where it garnered more than 32K likes and hundreds of encouraging comments.
Caity Weaver
“Dr. Maureen Brennan-Weaver died at home in Harrisburg on June 14th, startling all who knew her by being ahead of schedule for the first time in her life,” the opening sentence of the article stated. The obituary gave a detailed account of Brennan-Weaver, a podiatrist who attended Bryn Mawr University. She selected podiatry so that she could take holidays off, but frequently neglected to schedule them, Weaver says about her mother. Patients adored her and lavished her with homemade sweets, which she occasionally accepted in exchange for payment. She was unable to control herself when she found the perfect pair of shoes for patients while shopping. Except for patients she “truly liked,” she never made house calls; in fact, there were so many of them that she had to reserve entire days for them, the devoted daughter said.
Weaver, an only child, also paid her mother’s excitement for finding great deals a lighthearted homage. Funny quote from her essay: “If you mentioned a thing you liked, she [Brennan-Weaver] would get you 11 when she discovered them at a fantastic deal. She cut out diaper coupons and placed them in the baby aisle of the supermarket. She has been providing her family with toothbrushes ever since she bought a large box of them for cents on the dollar decades ago. Weaver also mentioned that her mother was “riotously witty and pathologically generous” and that she had “a laugh that shattered through rooms.”
“Although she gave her family and friends enough toothbrushes and memories to last many lives, no amount of time spent with the amazing Maureen would have been enough. Oh, how we loved her, it said in the obituary.
Readers were left stunned by the touching letter, while others showed by to offer their condolences. What a lovely, humorous, joyful, and very sad obituary, one individual wrote. I’m sad that you lost your mum; she sounds like a nice woman.
“This memorial is heartbreakingly lovely. For those who have never met her, thank you for bringing her to life. “This obituary made me cry while laughing. Another person said, “I don’t know her, but I miss her.
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