Funeral Exp. & the Aftermath for Ricky Cleveland

My mother's life hasn't necessarily been easy. She tried so hard to raise my sister and myself as a single parent for most of our lives and time and time again, life would get more bleak. Growing up, I always felt a rain cloud over our heads, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Mom's relationships over the years we're unfortunately more abusive than loving. She never seemed to catch a break.

After 30 years of trying, she met Ricky. Finally, an amazing man who loved her so hard. Someone who made her feel wanted and protected. Ricky was such a great soul to be around, from his coworkers to my sister's children, Ricky was always so fun and humble. He was so easy to talk to, so easy to get along with and relate to. My only regret in my thirty years on this Earth was being too distant to really get to know him.

Ricky and my mother got married on August 15th, 2020 and unfortunately and unexpectedly, he passed away just a few months later. An aggressive cancer would take his life with very little warning. I was just in the backyard building a swing set for the children with Ricky only a month ago and now the house is empty. There's no sound of children laughing at the moment, so noise from the television, no talk of the Georgia Bulldogs.

The aftermath of someone's death isn't something they teach you in school - like most vital things they didn't teach us about life.
For instance, if you get married, immediately get your spouse added as your beneficiaries. And not in just a general sense, contact your banks, get it set in motion. You may also find out about debts your recently departed has accumulated. Those get passed on to the living spouse. You'll also has to figure out what bills to let go, what payments to cease or payout, and maybe even turn their vehicle over to the company that owns it.

Don't sleep on life insurance. I need to do this myself. Did you know a funeral/burial can cost as much as $17,000 or more? Because I didn't.
You know what we unfortunately don't have? $17,000 + the money for debts. Sure, you can get some of those debts dropped with an official death certificate, but do you know how much ten death certificates cost? $400.

This GoFund me is to relief some of this financial strain off of Mom. Not only does she have the cost of the above to worry about, but her and Ricky just got a new home together and newer vehicles. Obviously some things will not be able to stick around, some services he picked up will have to be discontinued. There are debts that are left behind and bills coming up. But the necessities we have to have in life like shelter and vehicle are going to weight in a lot on an already heavy heart and I'd like to reach out to anyone who is willing and able to help Pametha with alleviate some of the struggles she is going to be facing in the near months.