Although this parasha is called: Chayye Sarah (The Life of Sarah), it actually begins with Sarah's death at age 127 in Hebron, previously called Kiryat Arba. After Abraham mourns for her, he talks to a representative of the Hittites, an inhabitant of Canaan,  asking to purchase a burial plot to bury her. Efron the Hittite  offers to give him a free plot, but Abraham insists on paying him, and he purchased Me'arat HaMachpelah,  the Cave of Machpelah, where all of our patriarchs and matriarachs (except Rachel), will be subsequently buried.

In the second part of the parashah, Abraham the widower is sending his old and trusted household aide- although his name isn't mentioned, it  is assumed that he is Eliezer- to find a suitable wife for Isaac ,Yitzhak, as he admonishes him not to take  a wife from any of the peoples of the Land of Canaan but only from his own land and family.  Eliezer goes to Haran where the family of his brother Nahor got settled and the first young woman he sees truly fits the bill. He asks for a drink of water from her jug yet she not only gives what he asked but also offers to hydrate his camels. Her name is Rebekah.- Rivkah, and she is beautiful. After repaying her kindness with jewelry, he asks her who she was and it turns out that she is the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham's brother.

Abraham's aide reveals himself, as well as   the nature of his mission, and he is ready  to take Rebekah home with him, to become  a wife for his master Abraham's son. He is told by her family that first the girl has to give her consent. Rashi makes a comment on this, as he underscores the fact that even at that ancient period of family matchmaking, a girl could not be married off without her consent. She readily agrees, receives a blessing from her family that she too will be the mother of tens of thousands and leaves her home and family to go  meet Isaac. Isaac finds comfort with his new wife after the death of his beloved mother, Sarah.

At the end of the parasha Abraham dies at 175 and his death reunites Isaac and Ishmael, who bury their father together in Me'arat HaMachpela, alongside his wife Sarah.  A Midrash explains that the half-brothers reconciled after many years of estrangement after Ishmael and his mother Hagar were sent away by Abraham at the behest of Sarah. Another interesting tidbit is the mention of another woman whom Abraham married by the name of Keturah. Rashi suggests that she was none other than Hagar, and explains his assertion by her name which implies that she was not with another man since banished by Abraham.  Abraham and his new wife had 6 more children. The children listed are boys, but there may have been daughters as well.

For me personally Chayei Sarah has an added attraction, its name, which was the name of my beloved mother. She too heeded an inner command to leave home and family and go to a strange land. In her case it was the call of Zionism So this is for you my dear Ima. (z"l)