While losing a loved one is always hard, it can be a reassurance to commemorate them in a way that stays true to their memory.
In the case of one recently deceased Ontario woman, her children made sure that she went out in style.
Sybil Hicks, 81, passed away on Feb. 2. Her children wrote her obituary from her own first-person perspective, and the result is something truly memorable.
"I leave behind my loving husband, Ron Hicks, whom I often affectionately referred to as a 'Horse's Ass'. I also left behind my children whom I tolerated over the years," the obituary says.
It also notes that Hicks finally achieved a big goal of hers.
"I finally have the smoking hot body I have always wanted... having been cremated."
The Hamilton Spectator, which published the obituary, originally reported that Hicks had written it herself before correcting their story when three of her children — Barbara, Brenda and Brian — came forward to say they had done it.
"But I really think mom was directing Barbara's hand," Brian told the newspaper. "It (the obituary) is exactly her voice."
Hicks suffered from Alzheimer's for the past 18 years, and Brian said the family wanted to have a final chance to communicate with her through the obituary.
'Riotous sense of humour': daughter
After his mother's service on Thursday, Brian told Global News that she probably would've loved her newfound viral fame — her obituary was picked up around the world and also made rounds on Reddit and Twitter.
"I honestly think that she's travelling the world and it's not costing her a dime for air fare," he said. "My mum didn't know what the internet was and she has now got hundreds of thousands of new friends as a result of somebody's kindness and sharing her obituary."
They had never seen a life celebrated so poignantly and hilariously.Brian Hicks, son
One of her daughters, Barbara, wrote most of the obituary, which the children hoped would capture their mother's wit and intelligence.
"She was a beautiful women with a riotous sense of humour," Barbara told CTV News.
The service carried the same tone as the obituary, according to the Spectator.
"The funeral home said they'd never had so much fun. The minister picked up on the horse's ass and referred to my father that way (playfully, of course). Everyone said, with no exceptions, on social media that they had never seen a life celebrated so poignantly and hilariously," Brian told the paper.
Hicks, a mother of five and grandmother to 13, was born in Hamilton. She was a nurse and later also ran a school bus company with her family. She was also an active horticulturalist, and loved to volunteer.