Dubstepped, I'm so sorry for your loss and how inhumanely you were treated by your family. Our situation with myJW in-laws is just beyond bizarre. Honestly, I wish my father-in-law would go back to the "necessary family business" model. My father-in-law didn't even have a memorial service at the Kingdom Hall for my mother-in-law. He believed that because she stopped eating and drinking that she chose to commit suicide, committed the unforgivable sin and is not going to get a resurrection. Isn't it nice that he has decided that he is God and has judged her as unworthy. He had her cremated and said, "Well that's over with. I guess I need to learn how to cook."
My husband just came home from a visit with his dad, and I can't even begin to talk about the sheer absurdity of the situation. Perhaps I'll be able to gather my thoughts and write a thread about it soon.
I do agree with dogisgod that we need to have our own personal way of grieving the loss of a loved one when we are not allowed to attend any services or be with family at the time of death. I had to do that with my daughter-in-law. She loved and celebrated spring, so I wrote her a letter and buried it with a newly planted flowering tree. It's what I needed to do.