Linda Brossi Murphy, a Massachusetts writer who passed away at age 60 after a battle with ALS, left her loved ones one last work of writing: her own obituary.
“Well, if you are reading this, it looks like I’m gone,” she wrote. “Wow, it actually happened… I d*ed of FOMO due to complications of Bulbar ALS.”
Her obituary, posted online by McCarthy, McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home, quickly began circulating across social media, where thousands were struck by Murphy’s bravery and sense of humor.
A 60-year-old woman moved the internet to tears with her self-written obituary, published after her passing
Image credits: Facebook/Justine Hastings
“My advice is to say ‘yes’ to the party, the trip, the adventure — and while you are there, please raise a glass and ‘Cheers’ for me!” she wrote.
Beneath her jolly disposition, however, lay a very real and very sobering fear, as she put it, of missing out on life’s simple pleasures, the adventures she could’ve had, and the jokes she will never tell.
Image credits: Facebook/David-Linda Brossi Murphy
“My stupid Bulbar ALS got me to the sad point of not being able to talk,” she admitted.
“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.”
The disease even stripped away the pleasure of eating.
Image credits: Facebook/David-Linda Brossi Murphy
“It totally stinks to sit at the table while people around you are eating juicy burgers hot off the grill, heaping piles of Chinese food, a healthy portion of pasta Alfredo, or Chipotle — and I just have to smile and act like I’m enjoying my bowl of puréed baby mush!” she wrote.
She explained that the illness had advanced to the point where she wished for it all to be over.
“Living had gotten to be such an overwhelming burden every day, day after day.”
ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, gradually deteriorates a patient’s nervous system and has no cure
Image credits: McCarthy, McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), is a degenerative neurological disease more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, around 5,000 Americans are diagnosed each year, and an estimated 30,000 are living with it.
Patients typically survive three to five years after diagnosis. This is a grueling process since the condition attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, gradually paralyzing those affected until they lose the ability to speak, walk, eat, and breathe.
There is currently no cure.
Image credits: Facebook/David-Linda Brossi Murphy
Still, Murphy refused to let the world see the reality of her suffering, determined to make the most out of the time she had left.
Despite working as a real estate agent for most of her career, a breast cancer diagnosis motivated her to write about her experiences in a book called “F Off Cancer,” filled with the same humor and determination she showed while battling ALS.
“Hair and make up done, smiles on,” she wrote, explaining that she and her husband David carried on with as much dignity as possible.
Murphy thanked her loved ones, and pleaded with them to spend money on gifts for their friends instead of flowers for her funeral
Image credits: Amazon
“My favorite pastime was being with my family & friends, hence why FOMO did me in! I also adored having fun, anytime, anywhere! No matter what I was doing, I had fun. I was a very happy person to the core,” she wrote.
Image credits: Amazon
In her obituary, Murphy also reflected on her 42-year marriage with David, recalling how the illness had reshaped even their intimate lives.
She joked that the couple became a “thruple” after her respirator, which she nicknamed “Hosee,” entered their bedroom.
“From then on, David woke up next to what looked like a fighter pilot with smooshed hair!” she wrote.
Beyond her humor, Murphy was clear about what mattered most to her: her family, her in-laws, her closest friends, whom she referred to as “amazing and the absolute best thing about [her] life.”
She also left blunt instructions for how she wanted to be remembered.
“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t waste money on flowers,” she urged.
“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 honor my memory.”
Image credits: Facebook/David-Linda Brossi Murphy
And for those who had brought harm or negativity into her life, she left a simple farewell note:
“If you were a stinker and meanie to me or my family or friends during my lifetime… please do everyone a favor and STAY AWAY, we don’t want your negative drama & energy. Only nice, loving people are welcome!”
ALS is a notoriously hard illness to treat, mainly due to the fact that researchers still haven’t found what causes it
Image credits: McCarthy, McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home
The heartbreaking obituary ended on a bittersweet note, as Murphy decided to carry out a final act of generosity, revealing that she had decided to donate her brain and spinal cord to Massachusetts General Hospital to help advance efforts to find a cure for ALS.
According to the ALS Therapy Development Institute, the difficulty in treating the illness ultimately comes down to researchers not being entirely sure of what causes it.
“Researchers believe a combination of genetics and environmental factors are at play in both genetic and sporadic ALS, but there is little understanding of how the two influence the onset of ALS.” Jonathan Gang, the site’s communication manager explained.
Gang then explained that for treatment to be effective, it needs to access the central nervous system, which is protected by something called the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB).
“Many dr*gs will not cross the BBB, and so a part of dr*g development for ALS is to utilize technologies to actively get ALS dr*gs into the central nervous system,” he said.
In the meantime, patients like Murphy are left with no option but to face the illness with courage, refusing to let it define the joy they can still share.
“So to my earthly existence, I say farewell,” she concluded. “It was a blast while it lasted. We sure did have fun!”
“Life truly is short.” Netizens were moved by Murphy’s resilience and sense of humor
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