Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Recently widowed but assisted by her foster mother , Jane Irwin Findlay , who was then seventy-three , she acted as his official hostess during Harrison 's brief tenure in office , which lasted for a month in 1841 .
Simplified: She acted as his official hostess during his brief tenure in office , which lasted for a month in 1841 .