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Mama June Reflects on Daughter Anna Cardwell’s Death 1 Year After Passing: ‘No Control Over Crying’
June “Mama June” Shannon is keeping her late daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s memory alive one year after she died following her battle with cancer.
As the one year anniversary of Anna’s death approaches on December 9, June, 45, took to Facebook on Tuesday, December 3, to share an update about her grieving process.
“It will be a year on Monday and we miss the hell out of Anna Marie Cardwell and would give my last penny to just talk to her and [for] her [to] be here for her girls,” June wrote, referencing Anna’s daughters Kaitlyn and Kylee. “Grief honestly [hurts] at random times.”
June said that she has “no control over crying,” “being mad” or acting like everything is OK when she is “dying inside.”
The mother of four went on to reveal that Anna’s death was “so hard” on her and their entire family. “But we have [to] keep our promise [that] we take her [everywhere] with us like she wanted and I will continue to do so,” she said.
After noting that she tells Anna to come along with her places, June acknowledged “some people may think that is crazy but for me and the family we love to have [with] us we definitely have [kept] her memory alive and will always.”
June said that Anna is “still in our family group chat text” and is in daughter Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird’s “car radio.” According to June, the family “just can’t and won’t delete any text and won’t ever take her out [of] the chat.”
“I always go to her TikTok and watch her videos all the time and search her name to see all the [videos] people made for her,” June concluded in the post.
Anna died at the age of 29 following her battle with stage 4 cancer. “With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,” June announced in a statement about her death. “She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM. She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she won’t and we will [sic] be updating y’all with more information as we get it today.”
Before her final months of life were documented on Mama June: Family Crisis, June, Lauryn, 24, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon reflected how they were honoring Anna while exclusively speaking to In Touch in June.
“I would say for me it’s a struggle. I do carry her. She’s actually with me today,” June said as she showed off a tribute bracelet she got in honor of Anna. “We have jewelry and stuff that we carry. Like, she’s always with us. We talk about her all the time.”
Lauryn added that they wanted to keep Anna’s memory alive for the sake of her two daughters. June was granted custody of Kaitlyn, 12, and Kylee, 8, currently lives with her father, Michael Cardwell.
“We have Kaitlyn, too, so [that’s] definitely a consistent reminder in having Kaitlyn,” Lauryn shared at the time. “We wanna keep that alive, too. Cause that is her mama.”
