Honoring the Life and Legacy of Ms. Rose Corrina James

With profound gratitude, I want to thank our community for the love, care, and support shown to Ms. Rose during her most vulnerable time, especially in the final season of her life. Her passing is a profound loss for all who knew and loved her, and even for those who may not have met her in person, but grew to enjoy her dynamic presence via social media. Her story reflects a life well lived—one of joy, compassion, and resilience.

Ms. Rose was a deeply empathetic and caring soul. As a social worker, and in all of her personal relationships, she devoted her life to supporting others—her beloved family, her partner Barry before his passing, her cherished friends, and her broader community. In her final season, she needed support herself, and because of the generosity of many of you, she was able to receive 24-hour care while continuing to live in her beloved Greenwich Village. It took many months of conversation before Ms. Rose could truly acknowledge that relocating from New York City was in her best interest.

In July of 2025, she finally accepted my invitation to move to Maryland to live with me and my family. While this was not an easy decision for her, she understood the growing challenges of living alone and the economic precarity she faced. Thankfully, she agreed to move and settled beautifully into her new home.

For a little over six months, I served as Ms. Rose’s full-time caregiver. With the daily support of my son, Jeremiah, and my aunt—who lovingly helped prepare Ms. Rose’s breakfasts most mornings—along with my doting uncle, who had come to live with us months earlier due to his own health challenges and who sadly passed away in October, our intergenerational home became a reciprocal circle of care. Ms. Rose became our beloved matriarch at its center, filling our home with her wisdom, humor, dynamic energy, love, and laughter.

Over the past six-plus months, Ms. Rose remained vibrant, joyful, and delightfully spunky. She was so excited to celebrate her 92nd birthday last month, and I am grateful we were able to share that moment with her. Even while navigating complex health challenges, she was a medical marvel who embraced life fully—spending time with her new puppy, Safiya, talking on the phone with friends, enjoying Nina Simone in concert and her beloved Judson Sunday service on YouTube, making new friends, enjoying outings to the National Harbor to eat crab cakes, watching her favorite films on Turner Classic Movies, talking endlessly about food, planning and demanding her meals, and eating to her heart’s content.

Forever jovial and full of life, Ms. Rose remained her bright, spirited self until the very end. Her final day began as so many before it—calling out for her breakfast ahead of her scheduled 9 a.m., firmly rooted in her rituals, her appetites, her will. As the day unfolded, her body gently began to release its hold, and she slept through most of the hours that followed. Just after 1:00 a.m. the next morning, as I stepped into her doorway to check on her, Ms. Rose took her final breath and passed away peacefully. In true Ms. Rose fashion, she transitioned from this life into the ancestral realm with the same grace, dignity, and beautiful regality that defined the way she lived.

While I wish I were able to cover Ms. Rose’s cremation and immediate final expenses without turning to the community for assistance—a request that asks me to sit with great vulnerability—I was reminded by one of Ms. Rose’s friends that she spent her life tending to the needs of others. To ask for help now is not something to be ashamed of or to shy away from, but a continuation of the mutuality and reciprocal nature that being in community awards us all, and a reflection of the care she so freely gave.

Any contribution—no matter the amount—is greatly appreciated. As we all understand that these times are extremely precarious for most people, if you are unable to give a financial gift, please consider sharing this appeal with your network.

Please note that a memorial service celebrating and honoring Ms. Rose’s life will be held at her beloved church home, Judson Memorial Church, with the date and time forthcoming.

Thank you for supporting Ms. Rose, for loving her, and for being a part of her beloved community.

With love, profound sadness, and gratitude for the life and legacy of Ms. Rose Corrina James,

Michelle