It’s no secret that I’m a big proponent of therapeutic fibbing. I’m also known to use obituaries in my favor, especially when comforting residents and referencing family members (seriously, what a resource). Last week was a first for me, though – I not only Googled the obit of a nonna’s recently deceased boyfriend, I edited it. I copy & pasted it into Microsoft Word and made some subtle (yet major) alterations, and it was a game changer. It sounds way worse than it is, I promise!

On Monday, the daughter (“D”) of one of my feistiest loves came to my office beside herself. Her mom’s partner of nearly 25 years had just passed, and if that alone wasn’t stressful enough, she had a rocky relationship with his family. If I’m being honest, his kids despised her. She unfortunately wasn’t welcome at his funeral (nor was she mentioned in his obituary), and D had no idea how she’d break the news. While her mom has dementia, she’s in those earlier stages; she understood he died and was calling constantly to find out service details (and, of course, about her obit shout-out).

After a quick search, we pulled up the article together and put it into a blank document. Thankfully, D was on board with my unconventional plan; though there was no malintent, I knew the suggestion to doctor an f’ing obituary could be taken either way. She agreed the truth would do more harm than good, causing Mom some serious heartache (and resulting in a ton more phone calls). Ten minutes and one “in lieu of services..” signoff later, D was off to break the news. Different news than she’d planned, but news nonetheless.

I visited with mamma the next morning and my heart sank as I walked in to this:

On her kitchen counter displayed proudly was a photo of the two of them and our infamous obituary. “I must’ve rubbed off on him,” she said – “I always told him funerals were a waste!” Our approach had been unusual but its results were extraordinary. With the purest intentions and her feelings at heart, we spared my love of some serious (and frankly at this point her life unnecessary) anguish. Once again it was confirmed that therapeutic fibbing can be a savior (as can the Internet and an obituary shout-out).