Widow To Sell Everything to Bury Husband

Yesterday I came across a story about a 91-year-old widow who is selling all of her belongings so that she can afford to bury her late husband to whom she was married for almost 47 years.  At the moment, the woman has $9.00 to her name and has decided to sell everything in their apartment except for her makeup and clothes and her husband’s clothes.  She is hoping to raise at least $3,000.00 which she estimates will be the cost of the funeral.  She is doing this to fulfill a promise.  Her husband wanted to be buried, not cremated.  Since she is

I do believe that everyone should be able to pass away and be laid to rest with peace and dignity and if that means assisting a 91-year-old woman in doing that for the person that was the love of her life, there must be a way to make it happen.

broke, she has no other choice but to do this in order to honor her husband who she says was the best man in the world.  This story takes my breath away.

What a love!  This lady is willing to give up just about every single possession that she has in the entire world in order to fulfill the wish of her late husband.  It is not something that she wants to do but she does not see any alternative.  I don’t understand.  We have money in this country for just about every other thing that you can imagine so why is there not a resource to help in this situation.  Recently, thousands of John and Jane Doe’s were buried in Los Angeles county alone when no family could be found to bury these people and this was at government expense.

According to the story, this lady has no family and the person who is assisting her in putting together the estate sale is her late husband’s niece.  I am hoping that someone will be able to step in and help this woman before she has to sell her life’s possessions.  I know that this is just one more reminder about the need for people to plan and save for the future but at such an advanced age, no one is in the position to turn around and make up for such mistakes from the past.  I do believe that everyone should be able to pass away and be laid to rest with peace and dignity and if that means assisting a 91-year-old woman in doing that for the person that was the love of her life, there must be a way to make it happen.

Most people are not in the frame of mind in life to plan for their deaths.  Granted, more people are addressing the matter in living wills, etc. but it is not a subject that is readily discussed and many families have no idea what the wishes of their loved ones may be.  I am of the opinion that everyone should know what an individual’s wishes are and if you are surrounded by those who can’t face such a discussion, be sure to write down your wishes and intentions and preserve those intentions by giving them to someone who you trust to bring them out when they are needed.

I don’t have the answers regarding how to help this widow to honor her husband but I am also moved to think about those who have to deal with the death of a loved one after dealing with cancer and perhaps already struggling with tons of debt from medical bills.  I think that perhaps it is time to look into this matter to find out whether such help is available for funeral expenses for those who have financial debt and would not be able to provide for a proper burial after all of the sorrow and heartache and horror associated with long-term illness.  I know there are answers and I hope that I can find them.  I never want another 91-year-old woman to have to go through what this woman is currently experiencing.