Jovielle Ortiz was 34 when she realized something that broke her heart: she would never take another selfie with her mom.
She was at the funeral of Kathleen, her mother, in California, surrounded by nearly 300 people who had come to say goodbye. Then she walked up to the podium. “I’m going to take a photo, if you want to smile or do something silly”, she said. Someone shouted “smile!” and hundreds of faces turned toward the camera, through tears and laughter, for one last selfie with Kat.
Ortiz feared people would think it was crazy to ask for that at a funeral. But her mother had always taught her daughters that it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. So she dared to do it. The video went viral on TikTok, and in the comments hundreds of people began sharing their own last photos with their mothers. A grief that became, without intending to, shared comfort.