On April 3rd, 2026, my mother passed away.

Within days, she went from being able to hold a conversation to rather incoherent to the point where by the time we arrived at the hospital that day, we were forced to make the call immediately to have her released painlessly.

She's struggled so much. It's not fair. What this hospital stay was supposed to be was maybe a final wake up call for her, not the end of a battle with alcoholism. She's been homeless, or in and out of housing on the generosity of friends on the rare occasion. She only recently (past two years) got out of a relationship with her abuser (of the past decade. I was proud of her and ready to put my own priorities aside to try to make sure she stayed on the sober road and that we could get housing together. I was never expecting a goodbye. I keep expecting to turn on my phone and see a new message from her. I'm haunted by thoughts of "what if she was scared".

I would like life to at least deal her one kindness in these past few years and that be for her cremation costs. She deserved so much and got so little.

She loved orchids, pandas, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Maybe, like me, you could spare her a thought when you see any of these.

Breakdown as per the New Mexico Cremation Service:

Package: Simple Cremation

Price: $995.00

County: Outside of Bernalillo County

County Fee: $500.00

Weight : 201-300 lbs

Logistic Fee : $100.00

NM State Cremation Permit : $230

Total : $1,825.00

"The above price does not include applicable state fees such as sales tax and death certificates."

After taxes puts it at around $1968.72. This does not include urn or death certificate costs, so I think $2000 would be safe for an encompassing cost. At that point, with the cremation out of the way, I think we could cover smaller things like that. This is our biggest blockade. The hospital said they would keep her until then, but I want to be able to bring her home as soon as possible.