A woman who lost her mother earlier in the year says she plans to eat her mother’s ashes by scattering them over her Christmas dinner to feel “as close as possible to her,” she told the Sunday Mirror. Debra Parsons has been consumed with grief since mom Doreen passed away and feels the only way to be reunited with her is by ingesting the older woman’s remains.
‘I will eat mum on Christmas day’: Grieving daughter to sprinkle mother’s ashes on turkey and pudding dinnerhttps://t.co/9uHlYEDl3H
— The Daily Record (@Daily_Record) December 17, 2017
- Debra knows many people won’t understand the impulse. However, she feels it’s the right thing to do as the urge is overwhelming and she feels unable to do anything else. “It is the only thing that will get me through my first Christmas without mum,” she explained. “People might think I’m mad or that it’s not a very respectful thing to do but I just can’t stop myself. I feel like she can live on by being inside of me because if she is part of me she can breathe through my body. My breath is her breath.”
- Doreen passed away suddenly. Perhaps making the loss even harder to bear is that Doreen passed away suddenly from an airway obstruction after contracting a chest infection. Because she couldn’t prepare herself for being without her mom, it’s made it even harder for Debra to move on from it.
- Debra has been obsessed with her mother’s ashes since she received them. Roughly two months after Doreen died, Debra was given her share of the ashes by her sisters. She started carrying them around with her in a sandwich bag and even slept with them in the bed. Then the urge to eat them struck.
- She’s already tasted the ashes before. It was a few months after getting the ashes that Debra decided to have a taste. “I opened the box and licked my fingers and just dipped them into the powder,” she recalled. “Before I knew what I was doing they were in my mouth and the chalky, salty taste was comforting. I felt confused by what I had done to begin with but the feeling of comfort and closeness it brought was the first bit of solace I’d had since her death.”
- Now she’ll consume the rest of them with Christmas dinner. Debra believes that by sprinkling Doreen’s ashes over the Christmas turkey and side dishes, she’ll make her mom “part of the celebration.” She’s even going to prop up a photo of the woman on the table throughout the dinner as she consumes the ashes “on a little spoon.”
- Debra believes her mom would be happy with the plan. While it might sound odd to some, Debra believes Doreen would approve. “I know my mum would have been happy for me to do whatever I needed to get over no longer having her in my life,” she said.
