A grieving daughter has told the Daily Mirror how she plans to eat her late mother, Doreen, for Christmas dinner this year.
Debra Parsons, 41, plans to scatter her mother’s ashes over the Christmas turkey before tucking in for their annual festive feast.
The grieving Parson’s also plans to enjoy a Christmas Pudding, also with a dusting of her mother’s remains.
Parsons told the Mirror how she has been fighting the urge to eat her mother’s ashes since she died in May, and has had small spoonfuls most days to ‘feel as close to her as possible.’
Debra told the publication, ‘It is the only thing that will get me through my first Christmas without mum.’
‘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.’
Debra further explained, ‘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.’
Explaining to the Mirror, Parson’s tells how her mother passed away suddenly following a chest infection. It was the second tragedy that had hit Parsons, who also lost a son at Christmas in 1996 when he was born prematurely.
When Doreen passed, Debra hit an all-time low.
‘My mum and I had a really strong bond and one which could never be broken, even by death,’ Debra explains. ‘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.’
Debra explains that her controversial decision to eat her mother’s ashes is sparked by her belief that scattering them in any other place feels ‘like throwing her away.’
Christmas is also a very hard time for Debra, who’s son passed on December 28.
‘Christmas has always been a really difficult time of year since the anniversary of my son’s death is December 28 and as it gets close this year I feel the urge even more. Christmas is a special time of year when you want to be close to the ones you love the most and I feel the loss of those that aren’t here more strongly now than ever.
‘But I don’t want to just eat the ashes on my fingers – I’d like my mum to be a part of the celebration this year so I will have her with my Christmas dinner.
‘We will have a place laid for her and a picture of her on the table so she can be with us on the very special day.’