On August 29, 2024, my friend Priscilla "Angel" Conlon's life changed forever when her mother Maryann, for whom she had been caring full time for the past ten years, took her last breath. She awoke the next morning an orphan, with no job, no car, no savings, no income, and a broken heart. Maryann passed from Alzheimer's Disease, with Angel at her side.
I met Angel while I was part of the Valencia College Alumni Association board of directors years ago. She had just started her masters program at UCF, and her life was rosy. After Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Angel quickly went from being a worker in the construction field and a full-time graduate program student to full-time caregiver when her Mom couldn’t be left home alone. For ten years this saintly woman stayed at home giving total care to her Mom. She couldn’t bare to institutionalize her, though that’s what most people recommended. She has been to hell and back, yet she never wavered. Doctors marveled at the care she provided to her Mom, though she withdrew into a life of complete disconnection after her car died two years ago. Through it all, she gave every minute of her life to care for her Mom.
I can’t imagine what she did for ten years of selfless giving, and I did what I could to support them, as did some amazing other kind people, but it wasn’t nearly enough. My heart is broken for her, and all I can do is share her story in hopes that creating this GoFundMe will help raise funds to give her Mom the traditional funeral and mass she wanted, along with some final expenses funds. Plans for the funeral and mass cannot go forward until payment is made to Becker Funeral home and the City of Clermont for the burial niche. Those preliminary plans include a celebration of life on Thursday, October 3rd and the Mass at Blessed Sacrament on Friday morning followed by internment at the cemetery. These dates may change due to availability at time of payment.
Due to her lack of income, Priscilla also needs a few months of living expenses until she can get through this huge loss and find transportation and work. For those who are not aware, now that Maryann is gone, her Social Security for last month will be subtracted from her bank account, even though it has already been used to pay the August bills, and September's deposit will be taken back as well, leaving zero dollars to cover August or September costs, and there will be no further incoming funds until Angel can get back to work. She needs to first address the necessary end-of-life business, which will take a bit of time, and to grieve and learn to live solo after all these years as her Mom's caregiver and best friend.
Please keep her in your prayers during the next 30 days as she tries to determine next steps. I can’t even imagine what she is dealing with, and with no family in Florida, being an only child, with no significant other or children of her own, this is all her cross to bear.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Heavy I know, but all I can do to help is share her story. So here I am.
To learn more, follow the links below, which will help you get to know Angel and Maryann:
Please scroll down for article in Habitat for Humanity Impact Report.
I am grateful for your time in reading this post, and appreciate any help that you an offer. No amount is too small--every bit helps. Thanks.