Jennifer Aniston’s mother Nancy Dow passed away in May of this year. Dow had been in poor health for many years, and it’s believed that Aniston did pay her mother one final visit in her last months. Aniston and her mom had been estranged for the better part of two decades, for good reason. In interviews, Aniston always gave the impression that her mother treated her mainly as competition, and once Aniston became famous, Nancy believed that she (Nancy) should profit from her daughter’s success. Aniston did say a decade ago that they had reconnected, although many believe that there was still a deep estrangement and that they were never going to really be close. I never blamed Aniston for that estrangement – Dow always seemed like a really manipulative piece of work, and sometimes you just need to disconnect.

A few months back, In Touch Weekly claimed that the estrangement was so deep that Nancy had cut her daughter out of her will as one final screw-you. I believed it. Just as I believe this story, that Jennifer’s final screw-you to her mother was that Jennifer didn’t even want her mom’s cremains.

Jennifer Aniston’s ambivalent feelings towards her late mom – who died three months ago at age 79 – continue. Now comes word that the 47-year-old Mother’s Day star is refusing to take Nancy Dow’s ashes and wants them nowhere near her, according to a report in In Touch Weekly. Jennifer attended the memorial service but when she was asked if she wanted to take Nancy’s ashes, the actress reportedly said no.

‘She said, “I don’t want them,”‘ a source close to the family told the publication, adding: ‘Someone tried to say that Jen thinks having the ashes around her home is morbid, that it’s not her style.’

Jennifer’s rejection came as somewhat of a shock to family and friends in spite of the distant mother-daughter relationship.

‘Everyone knows that she and Nancy had a horrible relationship,’ the source continued. ‘She was an absentee daughter and now, even with Nancy gone, it seems that she still doesn’t want her mom around.’

Jennifer and Nancy’s ‘feud goes beyond the grave,’ In Touch Weekly reported. The former Friends star had not seen her mother in several years, not since Nancy’s stroke in 2011. Then last spring, Jennifer flew to Los Angeles to say her final goodbyes to Nancy, who the source described as ‘sick, frail and alone’ during her final months before she passed away on May 25. In Touch Weekly reported that Jennifer’s husband, Justin Theroux, attended the memorial with his wife. The source told the publication that Justin ‘still thought Jen would take the ashes.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Again, I don’t blame Jennifer at all. Why would she want the ashes of a woman she barely knew, liked or loved? I wonder what Aniston’s therapist says about all of this! It could have been a moment to say goodbye to the past, perhaps taking the ashes and spreading them into the ocean or something. Or maybe Aniston already said her goodbyes and she has no interest in the ashes, full-stop. Also: I’m not one of those “ashes are morbid” people, but then again, I was sort of raised to believe the Hindu tradition of funeral pyres are quite normal/expected.

Photos courtesy of WENN.