Mrs Kavanagh
by Maggie · 18 June 2026 · Biography & Memoir
A daughter calls: her mother died, she'd had the same hairstyle every Friday for sixty years. Maggie comes and does it. The daughter says afterwards: that's exactly her. Maggie drives home, makes tea, thinks of nothing for a while.
The call came from a woman in Ranelagh who said her mother had just died and asked if I'd be willing to come to the house. I've had that call twice in thirty years. Both times I went.
Mrs Kavanagh was ninety-one and had kept her hair set every Friday for sixty years, her daughter told me. A particular wave on the left side, pinned behind the ear. She had photos to show me. I said I could do that.
It took about twenty minutes. Her daughter waited outside the room. When I was done I opened the door and she came in and stood for a long time without saying anything. Then she said: yes, that's her. That's exactly her.
I drove home and made tea and didn't think about anything in particular for a while, which is what I do after a day that's been a lot. It was the right thing to have done. I was glad I'd gone.
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