I'm sorry to hear about your pending loss.

Usually, the waiver is for death of the traveler or a traveling companion, not one is going to visit. For this situation, I'd recommend purchasing the travel cancellation insurance (review it for terms and conditions first!) when you purchase the ticket at aa.com, or check policies at www.insuremytrip.com, where uyou can read fine print and compare various products.

You can always contact AA after the fact and request - but there's no way to be sure they will be responsive.