February 19, 2025
MaryAnn had one last request of her daughter Dana during her final days at Hospice: “Make sure I look good.” Although Dana was heartbroken because her mother’s life was coming to an end, she couldn’t resist a smile.
“Mom, why are you thinking about that now?” MaryAnn was in no mood to quibble.
“Just make sure they make me look good.” By her mother’s tone, Dana realized how serious this final request was and assured her, “Yes, Mom, I will. Don’t worry.”
When her mother passed, Dana sat down with the funeral director and let him know how important this was.
At the wake she overheard more than one person say, “She looks good.” That was truly a blessing, especially considering those final months of cancer.
It’s strange, but true. As we kneel before the casket to pay our final regards to someone we love, we often find ourselves commenting on whether they resemble the person we knew in life. That’s just the way we humans think, foolish as it may seem. We want an assurance this is the same person we knew and loved, although often that person suffered during their final months or years.
Several weeks after the funeral, Dana had a dream and in the dream her mother came to her. She didn’t speak, but she was smiling, and her smile was radiant. It had been a long time since she had seen her mother smile. Even more curious, her mother didn’t look at all like the 81-year-old woman who had passed away. She looked 30. She was a beautiful woman that Dana had never seen during life, even though she knew it was her mother.
They say that God works wonders, and they say everybody in Heaven gets a new body that lasts forever and you look like a person in the prime of life. Because you are.
©Joe Pisani
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