I think the afterlife is something peaceful. if it were bad, then she wouldn't say so. I imagine she's somewhere warm. Not weather wise, but warm colors and soft lights. Something pure, a place where she can think, relaxing. which makes it easier to speak so <em>fondly</em> of her death.
In these lines from ¨Grandma Ling¨ the narrator describes herself (I guess it´s a she), using obviously the sight sense. Most probably the narrator stands in front of a mirror or a window that reflects the narrator´s image.
His wife was at the hairdresser when Walter picked up a copy of a Liberty magazine. He read <em>“Can Germany Conquer the World Through the Air?” </em>and saw pictures of war before he started daydreaming about being Captain Mitty.