GRIEVING DAUGHTER

GRIEVING Debra Parsons will have her mum Doreen for Christmas dinner this year – by scattering her ashes on the turkey then tucking in.

And for dessert she’ll enjoy Christmas Pud...with a dusting of her mum’s last remains too.

Debra, 41, has felt the urge to EAT Doreen’s ashes since she died in May and has had a small spoonful most days to feel “as close as possible” to her.

But as she faces Christmas without her, the craving has become even stronger.

“It is the only thing that will get me through my first Christmas without mum,” said Debra.

“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 see it as a positive thing – allowing her to be close to me and also involving her in the family day.

“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.

“It will be my first Christmas without her and I want her to be involved and this is the only way that feels right to me.”

Tragedy

Doreen Brown died suddenly from an airway obstruction after suffering a chest infection in May.

It was yet another tragedy for mumof- two Debra, who lost a son at Christmas 1996 when he was born prematurely.

She has struggled for years to cope with her grief – but when Doreen passed away she plunged to an all-time low.

“My mum and I had a really strong bond and one which could never be broken, even by death,” Debra said.

“She has been the one who has helped me through all the other ups and downs of my life and then suddenly she just wasn’t there any more. “I was distraught.” After the funeral and cremation Debra began to think what she would do with Doreen’s ashes – but rejected the traditional idea of scattering them at a beauty spot her mum loved.

“It wasn’t something I had ever thought about,” she said. “I always thought I would have more time to think about it.

“I knew Mum was ill but never expected her to pass away when she did. So when she went I had that feeling of huge loss but also of regret over all the things that went unsaid and all the times we would miss in the future. “I decided I wanted to do something with her ashes that would make a difference to how we remembered r her. I didn’t want to just scatter them because that wo would feel like throwing her away.” Two months la later, one of Debra’s two siste sisters, who are unaware of her u unorthodox ritual, delivered her share of the ashes to her home. “At first I kept them in a plastic sandwich ba bag. ““I I wanted to be w with them all the time so I had them by my be bed or with me around the house. “Th Then I got a li l i ttl ttle box for the them so I could ha have them on di display but no matter what I did I j ust c couldn’t get