Linda Brossi Murphy, a Massachusetts writer, who lost her life on September 21 after battling with fatal ALS disease, has taken the internet by storm as her self-penned obituary came to surface.
Murphy, a native of Framingham, took her last breath at the age of 60 after a three-year struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“Well, if you are reading this obituary, it looks like I’m dead,” Linda Brossi Murphy wrote. “WOW, it actually happened… I died of FOMO due to complications of Bulbar ALS,” Murphy wrote.
“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,” Murphy added.
In her self-written obituary, she also mentioned her helplessness, to be surrounded by loved ones and not being able to enjoy “juicy burgers” or “heaping piles of Chinese food.”
She also shared her sufferings and struggles white dealing with deadly disease. “Living became an overwhelming burden every day, day after day, after battling with the terminal disease,” she said.
“My favourite 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.”
“Please be kind to everyone: the telemarketer, the grocery clerk, the Dunkin's staff, the tailgater, your family, your friends. Speak nicely and positively. Is there really ever a reason to be negative? I don't think so…” she wrote.
She also advised her loved ones not to buy 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 wrote.
Murphy was diagnosed with ALS in 2022. Prior to that, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare condition that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Eventually, a person loses his ability to walk, talk, swallow, and breathe.
People reeling from this deadly disease, only live 3-5 years after diagnosis as there is no cure for ALS.
