I would say that the connotations of the word legitimate has in the line would be:
Valid and Legal
Within 72 hours of death, they begin to speak in metaphors of journey. They request their shoes, or their plane tickets or demand to go home when they are home. When my sister lay dying of breast cancer, she said, as if frustrated, “I don’t know how to leave,” and spoke of “hapless flight attendants.”
de
is the prefix for deposit
