Burial costs

Have you ever thought how hard it would be to bury your child? Everyone knows that children are supposed to outlive their parents. Now try to imagine the pain of burying not one, not two, but all three of your children.

My name is Kathy Weaver and this GoFundMe page is for my sweet cousin, Merllyn Barboza, who has had to do just that. Merllyn has called me Kitty Kat for as long as I can remember and is very special to me. Every time I say goodbye to her I tell her, “I love you so much!”

Her middle son, Steven, was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer at the age of 12. He died a year later in 1986. Her oldest son, Joseph, died at the age of 39, after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2009. Her youngest son, Benjamin, succumbed from his injuries after falling from a two story balcony in 2017 at the age of 40.

It’s enough to bring anyone to their knees, but it doesn’t end there. In 2013, before Ben’s death, her youngest grandson, Tristian, was hiking in the woods with a friend when they got lost. They separated and his friend found his way out but Tristian did not and died from exposure to the elements at the age of 17. His body was found months later.

On September 2, 2022, I attended a memorial service for her only remaining grandson who suffered a heart attack at the age of 28. After years of turning to Fentanyl to deal with his pain, he got clean and sober. On August 7th, the day he left the hospital, Dalton told his grandmother (my cousin), “No more drugs Grandma! I just want to live!” But his heart was too weak and he passed that same day.

My sweet cousin is probably the strongest woman I know. She has had to lean on her faith to get her through all of these losses. I sometimes wonder how she is able to go on after so much pain and sorrow.

I am raising money for her to purchase two burial plots, to replace the plots she has given to her family. She deserves to know that when her life on this earth is over, she will have a place (next to her husband) where she can Rest in Everlasting Peace.