Honoring Mama Carol: Support Her Final Journey

My name is Morgan, and this fundraiser will help me in the wake of the immeasurable loss of my loving and wonderful Mama. With the funds, I can give her the sendoff she deserves, pay for her after-life care, and celebrate Mama Carol's short and sweet life. It will cover these costs, as well as the mounting expenses incurred over the last eight years of her in-patient care for frontotemporal dementia at Napa Valley Care Center.

What's funny about my mama is that she was happy to be "Mama" for everyone she met. She walked through life collecting little lost children (and some adults, too) to build a family and create a safe place for them. I was her daughter, as were you. She was the kind of person who went out and bought a minivan because she had collected too many wayward souls for her Dodge Stratus and needed more seats to safely caravan us kids to and fro. She was a pillar of strength and warmth in any community lucky enough to have her.

For those of you who never met my mom, let me paint a picture for you: My mom was a firecracker—tiny feet, big heart, loud mouth, and feisty as all get out. And she loved a good party. At 5'1", she’d poorly dance anyone under the table if the tunes were groovy, and she hid from every camera at every event like it was her job. Music was her first love, and she would happily go around the block if your favorite song hit the speakers too close to home. She loved her live shows, sitting around listening to records and reading the lyrics (because she always got at least one wrong, and with such conviction), and asking me incessantly, "QUICK: Who sings this song? What year did it come out?" every time she thought she could stump me (she couldn't).

I never felt like anything was out of reach with my mama in my corner because she was determined, stubborn, and never gave up any fight. The absolute truth is, she would do anything for someone she loved, and she loved my brother and me so fiercely. She helped change disability laws in the state so people with Autism could get the services they deserved and fought tooth and painted nail for my brother Matthew to have access to the care he needed. If you know someone who gets in-home respite or IHSS, you can partially thank my mom and her friends for their hard work. She was the most incredible mother, the only one who could have handled and shaped the person I’ve grown to be, and I will be forever, deeply, and painfully changed by her passing.

Thank you for reading, for your donation, and for sharing this fundraiser. I am devastated to have to create it but forever grateful to have loved someone as much as I loved my mama.