For our family, 2026 began not with hope or renewal, but loss. After battling through a medically induced coma caused by a severe case of pneumonia, our mom Stacey Lee Scott fought relentlessly to return home. She endured months of slim to none odds, giving everything she had while waiting for a lung donation. Through it all, her courage and will never wavered. Neither did our hope. She got off the ventilator. She sat up and figured out how to communicate despite losing her power of speech. She gave us hugs. She got out of bed and stood. She walked on ECMO. Ultimately it was her body, not her will, that betrayed us all, taking our beloved mother from us at 2:02 a.m. on New Year's Day.

Many reading this likely didn't have the privilege of knowing Stacey in person. She was kind, giving, loving and supportive while also being unimaginable strong. She was a Navy Veteran, deployed on the USS Acadia, the first wartime deployment of a mixed female, male crew with just over a third of the crew being women. She became a photographer, shooting one of the few existing images of the US Navy's experimental stealth ship, Sea Shadow. She battled 6 different types of cancer, some more than once, over the course of a decade and came out on top each time. She was a kickass mom who cared for dozens of foster kids and helped charter California's Foster Youth Bill of Rights all while raising her own children.

Donations will go towards paying off any medical expenses Stacey's insurance didn't cover, Celebration of Life costs, caring for her pets until they find loving homes and supporting the 2 children who were still living with her at the time of her passing.

No donation is too small, all are welcome and appreciated.

A Celebration of Life will be held February 7, 2026 at Clovis Hills Community Church at 10 a.m.

It will be live-streamed for those who can not attend in person (link TBA).