{"id":9176,"date":"2026-10-04T09:43:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T09:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awestories24.press\/?p=9176"},"modified":"2026-10-04T09:43:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T09:43:02","slug":"after-mom-di3d-my-sister-in-law-became-obsessed-with-taking-her-old-freezer-and-the-reason-left-me-stunned-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awestories24.press\/?p=9176","title":{"rendered":"After Mom Di3d, My Sister-in-Law Became Obsessed With Taking Her Old Freezer, and the Reason Left Me Stunned"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last time I saw my mother alive, she was standing over her stove with a wooden spoon in one hand, stirring a giant pot of chicken soup that looked big enough to feed half the neighborhood.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u201cMom,\u201d I asked, \u201cwho are you cooking all of that for?\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t even look up.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cYou. Your brother. Vanessa. The kids. Whoever needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom tapped the spoon against the rim of the pot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always somebody who needs soup, Bethie.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was Dorothy Larsen.<\/p>\n

My mother.<\/p>\n

Seventy-four years old, barely five-foot-one, with snow-white hair she still curled every Saturday night and reading glasses hanging from a beaded chain around her neck because otherwise she\u2019d lose them somewhere ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Usually the refrigerator.<\/p>\n

She had been making soup every Sunday for as long as I could remember.<\/p>\n

Chicken noodle.<\/p>\n

Beef barley.<\/p>\n

Split pea with ham.<\/p>\n

Minestrone whenever the weather turned cold.<\/p>\n

She poured everything into cheap plastic containers, labeled the lids with a black marker in her looping handwriting, and carried them downstairs to the basement freezer.<\/p>\n

CHICKEN NOODLE \u2013 NOV.<\/p>\n

BEEF BARLEY \u2013 FOR GREG.<\/p>\n

SPLIT PEA \u2013 SAVE SOME FOR LILY.<\/p>\n

The freezer itself was an ancient white chest freezer Dad bought years before he died.<\/p>\n

It was enormous.<\/p>\n

The lid stuck every time you opened it, and the motor hummed so loudly you could sometimes hear it from upstairs.<\/p>\n

Dad had originally bought it for venison.<\/p>\n

After he died, Mom filled it with soup instead.<\/p>\n

That Sunday, she glanced at me and said,<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m filling it before winter. That way everybody will have enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

I laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, I live two hours away. I\u2019m not driving all the way to Altoona for frozen soup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Then she stirred the pot again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s time, you\u2019ll come.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought she was simply being dramatic.<\/p>\n

Mom said strange little things like that sometimes.<\/p>\n

Before I left, she followed me outside.<\/p>\n

She hugged me in the driveway longer than usual.<\/p>\n

Then she pulled away and looked directly into my face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe freezer is full, Bethie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what happens, don\u2019t let anybody throw away my soup.\u201d<\/p>\n

I smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is throwing out your soup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPromise?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

She touched my cheek.<\/p>\n

Nine days later, Mom suffered a stroke while trimming the roses beside her house.<\/p>\n

Her neighbor found her.<\/p>\n

By the time help arrived, she was already gone.<\/p>\n

My name is Beth Larsen.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m forty-five years old and work as a cardiac nurse in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been divorced for six years.<\/p>\n

My daughter Kelsey is away at college in Ohio, and she calls me every Thursday night without fail.<\/p>\n

I also have one younger brother.<\/p>\n

Greg.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Greg was everyone\u2019s favorite.<\/p>\n

Funny.<\/p>\n

Loud.<\/p>\n

Charming.<\/p>\n

He had Dad\u2019s broad shoulders and Mom\u2019s blue eyes.<\/p>\n

He played football, dated cheerleaders, and somehow managed to charm teachers even when he never finished his assignments.<\/p>\n

I was the opposite.<\/p>\n

Responsible.<\/p>\n

Quiet.<\/p>\n

Always home before curfew.<\/p>\n

I went to nursing school, moved away, built a career.<\/p>\n

I loved Greg.<\/p>\n

I still do.<\/p>\n

But even as children, I knew he could get away with things I never could.<\/p>\n

Greg stayed in Altoona.<\/p>\n

At twenty-eight, he started a construction business called Larsen & Sons Contracting even though there had never actually been any sons involved.<\/p>\n

He just thought the name sounded established.<\/p>\n

For a while, the business did well.<\/p>\n

He married Vanessa at thirty.<\/p>\n

She was a dental hygienist.<\/p>\n

Gentle.<\/p>\n

Steady.<\/p>\n

Dark hair usually pulled into a ponytail.<\/p>\n

Continue reading <\/a><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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