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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Polly Hudson

My mum has died – and there is one kind of response I can’t stand

Two female friends hug tightly outdoors while saying goodbye
Say anything … Photograph: Posed by models; Juanmonino/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Luckily, I already knew having a comic thought at a tragic moment is a natural stress response, or I might have worried. My mum has died, making me an orphan – and what first popped into my head was how annoyed Larry David would be.

In Curb Your Enthusiasm, when Marty Funkhouser’s mother’s wheelchair was run over by a car, he proclaimed himself an orphan. David informed him he was too old to be an orphan. Funkhouser insisted that if your parents are dead, you’re an orphan.

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