A Maine woman decided to take one last shot at her allegedly abusive mother after her death by writing a brutally candid obituary.
Following the passing of Florence ‘Flo’ Harrelson, 65, in February, her estranged daughter Christina Novak said she wrote the obituary after only finding out this month that her mother had passed.
‘(Harrelson) died without family by her side due to burnt bridges and a wake of destruction left in her path,’ Novak wrote on the obituary, published in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
The delay came because Harrelson ‘did not want an obituary or anyone including family to know she died’, Novak wrote, because ‘even in death, she wanted those she terrorized to still be living in fear looking over their shoulders.’
‘So, this isn’t so much an obituary but more of a public service announcement,’ Novak added.
Maine resident Christina Novak penned a brutal obituary for her own mother after hearing the news six months after her death, where she said she ‘died without family by her side’
Novak alleged that her mother Florence ‘Flo’ Harrelson (pictured) was abusive to her, and said she had a ‘wake of destruction left in her path’
Despite the savage nature of the obituary she wrote about her own mother, Novak insisted to Bangor Daily News that she did not feel angry while writing it, and only felt relieved to get her final thoughts off her chest.
‘When I wrote it. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t angry. I was actually sitting with pen and paper and giggling to myself,’ Novak said.
Novak also proudly shared the obituary to her Facebook page, and accompanied an image of the text with the song, ‘Ding dong, the witch is dead.’
She reportedly described her mother as an abusive and manipulative woman, and claimed she was not the only family member to feel relief after her death.
In a previous text exchange Novak shared to her Facebook allegedly sent by her mother, Harrelson was seen telling her daughter: ‘I don’t acknowledge mentally challenged, lazy, lying people as grandchildren.’
Novak said her mother previously served in the Marines and was a guard in the Maine State Prison, and although she was diagnosed with cancer, she heard Harrelson died from heart failure.
During her time as a prison guard, Harrelson was sued by an inmate who alleged that she, and other officers, attempted to hire another inmate to assault him.
The mother and daughter had been estranged for over a decade, and Novak said she only found out about Harrelson’s death six months after it happened.
She said she decided to write the scathing obituary because she would have wanted to know sooner, primarily because she could have avoided months of being worried her mother might reappear in her life.
Despite the brutal nature of the obituary, Novak admitted: ‘When I wrote it. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t angry. I was actually sitting with pen and paper and giggling to myself’
After initially starting to write a traditional obituary on her mother’s life, Novak said she struggled to find any positive words and instead detailed her many alleged wrongdoings.
In the end, however, she decided not to publish a long rebuke, and instead opted for a simpler public service announcement.
After finishing the four-sentence scolding, Novak said she ran it by several family members, with the only change coming from an older relative fixing her spelling mistakes, reports Bangor Daily News.
She said the obituary cost her $86.13 – at $1.25-a-word – which she said was more than worth it for the ‘priceless’ entertainment it provided her.
A second, far more complimentary obituary for Harrelson also emerged online, however the author and authenticity of the obituary are not clear.
The second obituary said Harrelson was ‘known for her warm smile and kind heart’, and said she was ‘a pillar of strength and support for many in Maine.’
And while Novak said her mother’s reluctance to have an obituary was her attempt at tormenting her family one last time, the second obituary instead argued it ‘speaks volumes about the humble and selfless person she was.’
‘She never sought recognition or praise for her good deeds, always putting others before herself. Her legacy will live on in the countless lives she touched and the memories she created with her loved ones,’ the tribute concluded.