A woman’s self-penned obituary has gone viral for her positive outlook on life despite her ALS battle.
Massachusetts writer Linda Brossi Murphy gifted her family with one final heartfelt letter, which was shared online following her death on September 21.
“Well, if you are reading this obituary, it looks like I’m dead,” she began.
“WOW, it actually happened… I died of FOMO due to complications of Bulbar ALS.”
Murphy died aged 60 following a three-year battle with the rare condition, and noted that was “way too young”.
“My stupid Bulbar ALS got me to the sad point of not being able to talk. Never speaking means never being able to say, ‘I love you!’ It means not being able to call my Mr. BoJangles over for a snack, and it means not being able to order at the Dunkin’ drive-through,” she continued.
The condition – which destroys the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord used to talk, walk, swallow, and breathe – left her unable to participate in certain activities with her loved ones like enjoying “heaping piles of Chinese food” or “juicy burgers” together, which “totally stinks”.
She wrote that living became “an overwhelming burden every day, day after day,” but she did her best to not let anyone know about her “daily suffering”.
Despite her struggles, Murphy made light of the situation, later quipping that she and David, her husband of 42 years, had recently entered a ‘thruple’ when her respirator, Hosee, moved into their bed.
“From then on, David woke up next to what looked like a fighter pilot with smooshed hair!” she wrote.
Prior to her ALS diagnosis in 2022, Murphy battled breast cancer in 2012 and survived, writing a book titled “F-Off Cancer” at the time, her positive attitude shining even then.
She then paid tribute to her “wonderful family” who were “the absolute best thing about my life.”
“My favorite pastime was being with my family & friends, hence why FOMO [fear of missing out] did me in! I also adored having fun, anytime, anywhere! No matter what I was doing, I had fun,” she wrote. “I was a very happy person to the core.”
She then urged people to live their life to the fullest and say yes to doing things,”and while you are there, please raise a glass and ‘Cheers’ for me!”
Murphy also urged “please be kind to everyone” before telling her family ““PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t waste money on flowers.
“Buy a bunch of scratch tickets and give them out to strangers along your way. Make people happy, that is the best way that you can honour my memory.”
She also asked people to consider donating to Compassionate Care ALS, an organisation that “has helped me and so many others live a better life while struggling with ALS.”
In one final act of kindness, Murphy had her brain and spinal cord donated for ALS research.
Since her passing, Murphy’s obituary has gone viral, and it has been reported that she picked out her own casket, chose the music at her funeral and planned a dance party in her honour.
“She was the life of the party. She was the party,” her daughter, Justine Hastings told local news outlet CBS News Boston.
“One of my favorite comments was, ‘I just read this, and I just wish I could have had a glass of wine with her.’”
Commenters from all over the world agreed, and many were moved by her writing.
“Your obituary was absolutely perfect. It sounds like you lived a great life and you also sounded very brave. I have a very dear friend who was diagnosed with the same ALS as you were we were devastated when we found out, but we’re staying strong for him,” one person wrote.
“You definitely sound like you lived your life like he lived his. He’s still with us but struggles every day but we stay positive. The best medicine is laughter. We try to get him to laugh every day. May you rest in peace you are definitely with the angels,” another person wrote,” they continued.
“I’m sitting in India and reading this obituary. I don’t know you but I wish I did. I wish I could have told you just how much I admire your outlook and your strength. I truly hope you find peace in the abyss and if a concept of multiple lives exist, you have the most wholesome peaceful and joyous one in your next,” another commented.
“Wow! What an AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, LOVING and inspiring person she was, a beautiful spirit!!!” a third commented, adding that they “literally snorted laughing while almost crying” while reading Murphy’s obituary.
Image: McCarthy McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home and Cremation Services
