Good morning Mick and ladies,
So sorry about your friend, whitewave. I hope she has a peaceful end surrounded by love. Almost five years ago, on Leap Year Day, a very dear friend died, 5 days before her 54th birthday in similar circumstances. On 5 March, she would have been 59. 
Kitty a busy but sad day for you but what a full life your mum has lived! "The Bustle in a House" ( poem 1108) by Emily Dickinson is evocative and rings true:
The Bustle in a House
The Morning after Death
Is solemnest of Industries
Enacted upon Earth-
The Sweeping of the Heart
And putting Love away
We shall not want to use again
Until Eternity