- Hello, my name is Courtney Michelle Smith Hodges, and I'm trying to raise money to properly send my husband of 11 years, Antonio Marcel Hodges, off to his final resting place. It was an untimely and truly unexpected death on Thursday, and I pray that God guides me through this process. Just to tell you a bit about myself, I am a 45-year-old (now widowed) mother of four children biologically and nine stepchildren. I am as well a grandmother of three between my 2 sons who are ages 27 and soon to be 25, in addition to my two sons I also have two daughters that are ages 9 and soon to be 17. Right now we are all separated and have been for the last year and a half, due to me being homeless. Because of my medical conditions of having sickle cell disease, and RMS which is relapsing multiple sclerosis, I guess you can say I was fortunate to be able to be placed in a rehabilitation facility / nursing home for a year and for the last 6 months I have been living in an assisted living facility, where my husband later found work as the second cook. I've never had the job or position of having to prepare a funeral for anyone, not even my Dad's whom I loss in December of last year, and so I say that to let it be known that this is so new to me and some days I don't even know where to begin. Because this is something that has to be done in a timely manner, I'm asking for help from the people, those of you whom I know as well as many whom I don't, with paying the expenses that it will be to lay my husband to rest and his final resting place. As I just told my son, I guess that because this is the last place he will ever need, the cost is as much as purchasing a forever home to live in, up until the preparation of your final resting place. Because of our life situations, we were in need of finding a home to live in for us and our children, and so we didn't think that there wasn't enough time for us to start planning for our time of death, and so he didn't have any insurance; therefore, all expenses will have to come out of pocket. To tell you a bit about my husband, he was a man of character and at times I would say of many characters as he displayed a lot of them. He was a loving, funny, caring husband, father, uncle, son, brother, and friend, and helpful to all who were in need of his help, whether it was a hot meal, clothes, or a push out of the street. If he saw someone on the side of the road who needed help, he would stop and offer it to them if he was able to. I've even seen him literally give the shirt off of his back to someone, although it wasn't because it was needed, but just because the little lady said she liked and wanted it. Cooking was one of his favorite things to do, and feeding people the meals that he and I prepared at times was one of the things that he enjoyed most of all about cooking. So when I told him that there was an opening in the kitchen of the assisted living facility that I currently reside in, he took full advantage of that opportunity right away and became the new cook. Although he did not get the chance to work very long, he enjoyed seeing me as well as the other residents indulging in the meals that he prepared. One thing that he loved the most about being an employee where I reside was having me
alongside him to help him prepare some of the meals in which we used to prepare together when we were living in our own place.There is so much more to be said about my
husband, but with so many other things that needs to be done at this time, I would go on for days talking about him and nothing else would get done. So I will end this by saying that my husband was truly a one-of-a-kind man, husband, father, son, brother, and friend, who could never be copied or replaced, and I miss him so dearly already.
But now I ask of all who read this, those of you who knew him and as well as those who did not, to please donate if you're able, and if not, please share with as many people as you know. I am so forever grateful for any and all that anyone does, and even if there are any resources that anyone knows of for help with funding for funerals, I accept that as a donation as well. Thank you all for reading and sharing in advance. Be blessed.