Jessica Guthrie adjusts the glasses of her mother, Constance, after waking her up in the morning, in Fredericksburg, Va., on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Constance has lived 74 years, many of them good, as a Black woman, a mother, educator and businesswoman. But she will die of Alzheimer’s disease, a scourge of Black Americans that threatens to grow far worse in coming decades. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Constance Guthrie is not yet dead, but her daughter has begun to plan her funeral.
It will be, Jessica Guthrie says, in a Black-owned funeral home, with the songs of her ancestors. She envisions a celebration of her mother’s life, not a tragic recitation of her long decline.
