But our aunt, who did swoop in and contribute mightily to this thing, pointed out that our uncle did us all a favor by not being there to disapprove of the lovely tearful funny heartfelt thing we did for my mom
My mom’s older brother emailed to say he wouldn’t be attending the funeral, but solemnly assured me that he’d “always consider her as a member of the family.” My cousin and I noted that if he had gone first and our mothers had opted out of his funeral, we would judge them harshly indeed
