A son has paid tribute to his "plus-sized," "redneck" mother in a hilarious obituary that has warmed hearts around the world.
Renay Mandel Corren, known as "Rosie" to her friends and family, "kicked it" in El Paso, Texas, after a long and eventful 84 years on Earth, leaving behind five sons and a daughter whom she outlived.
In keeping his mother's memory alive, Rosie's son Andy has penned an obituary that has caused a stir online, going viral since it was posted on 11 December - the day of her death.
Wittily written throughout, the writer quips about his mum's irresponsible spending as a "good-time gal" who worked long shifts and was friends with everyone she met.
In announcing his mum's death, he writes: "This was not good news to Renay Mandel Corren's many surviving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many of whom she even knew and, in her own way, loved.
"There will be much mourning in the many glamorous locales she went bankrupt in."
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He adds: "Because she was my mother, the death of zaftig good-time gal Renay Corren at the impossible old age of 84 is newsworthy to me, and I treat it with the same respect and reverence she had for, well, nothing."
The son says it wouldn't be possible to find a "more disrespectful, trash-reading, talking and watching woman" in the states of North Carolina, Florida or Texas, where she spent her long life.
He jokes: "Renay turned her voracious mind to the home front, becoming a model stay at home parent, a supermom, really, just the perfect PTA lady, volunteer, amateur baker and - AHHAHAA HA! HA! HA! Just kidding, y'all!
"Renay - Rosie to her friends, and this was a broad who never met a stranger - worked double shifts with Doreen, ate a ton of carbs with Bernie, and could occasionally be stirred to stew some stuffed cabbage for the kids."
He added she "played cards like a shark, bowled and played cribbage like a pro, and laughed with the boys until the wee hours."
Andy makes a bold assertion that his mother was 11th or 12th top ranked woman playing cribbage in the US during the 1980s - adding, "while that could be a lie, it sounds great in print."
But if it is a lie, he insists it's a fitting description of his beloved mum, who "lied a lot."
However, he says: "On the plus side, Renay didn't cook, she didn't clean, and she was lousy with money, too.
"Here's what Renay was great at: dyeing her red roots, weekly manicures, dirty jokes, pier fishing, rolling joints and buying dirty magazines."
She'd had a few brushes with death before her time was finally up, which her son lists in alarming detail.
"We thought Renay could not be killed. God knows, people tried," he joked.
"Covid couldn't kill Renay. Neither could pneumonia twice, infections, blood clots, bad feet, breast cancer twice, two mastectomies, two recessions, multiple bankruptcies, marriage to a philandering Sergeant Major, divorce in the 70s, six kids, one cesarean, a few abortions from the Quietly Famous Abortionist of Spring Lake, NC or an affair with Larry King in the 60s."
Renay suffered plenty of heartbreak in her life, having to bury her daughter, Cathy Sue Corren Lester Trammel Webster - who herself had lost an eye in a "near-fatal Pepsi bottle incident that will absolutely be explored in future obituaries."
The son, who describes himself as "the gay one" writes: "Losing her 1-eyed badass b*tch of a daughter in 2007 devastated Renay, but it also made her quite homeless, since Cathy pretty much picked up the tab."
In her later years, Renay, who is described by her son as "a talented and gregarious grifter" lived in "luxury" after retiring at 62.
Her son says she lived "under the care, compassion, checking accounts and, evidently, unlimited patience of her favorite son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Lourdes Corren."
Renay was also survived by three other sons Jeffrey, Marc and Scott, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Andy jokes: "Renay took tremendous pride in making one gay son and two gay grandchildren."
Informing people about Renay's big send off, Andy writes: The family requests absolutely zero privacy or propriety, none what so ever, and in fact encourages you to spend some government money today on a 1-armed bandit, at the blackjack table or on a cheap cruise to find our inheritance.
"She spent it all, folks. She left me nothing but these lousy memories."
Asking people to attend the service, he writes: "Please think of the brightly-frocked, frivolous, funny and smart Jewish redhead who is about to grift you, tell you a filthy joke, and for Larry King's sake: LAUGH.
"Bye, Mommy. We loved you to bits."
