Rachel Louise Ramirez, born May 26th, 1978, was a beautiful soul and a truly unique person. A genius in her own right, she had a deep love for reading and a penchant for writing, as well as a dedication to growth through learning and teaching. She consumed information as fuel, and one of her most favorite things in the world was collecting and sharing knowledge; she knew everything about everything, and she had a wonderful memory. My mother's intellect was hard to touch, making her a rock for her family and friends to rely on, someone wise and trustworthy. Beyond her brain, though, my mother was kind, silly, patient, talented, and almost any other positive adjective you could think of--she was wonderful, and she is my forever best friend.

Rachel's wisdom has been a guiding light for the fortunate ones who have crossed paths with her, and she was the most gorgeous person in every room she walked into because she carried that unyielding luminance. At 28 years old, my mother was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, but she had three young kids she needed to care for and that she refused to leave. So, for 19 years she fought through her chronic autoimmune disease and the several other health issues it would bring along with it, including ESRD, Hypothyroidism, Neuropathy, and Malignant Hypertension. Yet, my mother was never defined by her diseases--she was defined by the strength and love she carried through them as she faced obstacle after obstacle with resilience, positivity, humility, and gracefulness. There is truly no one like her and I write this with a gaping, freshly-formed wound in my chest; she will be dearly missed.

Unfortunately, my mother Rachel Ramirez passed away June 6th at just 48-years old after an 18-day fight for her life in the ICU. She had been found unresponsive and grunting in pain on May 20th and rushed to the hospital with hypoglycemia, uremia, and respiratory failure. There in the ICU she would spend her birthday being tested on and probed by healthcare workers who would go on to fail her, as they consistently had before. A series of medical errors, including delayed insulin pump glucose sensors prior to hospitalization, an overly-postponed tracheostomy, lack of testing, and "misplaced" trach tube, led to further suffering and, ultimately, her passing. The experience has been simply, outrightly terrible, yet her perseverance trying to fight all the way through was remarkable, and she's one of the strongest people I'll ever know.

It is hard not to say it simply–my mother was one of the coolest people ever; despite being a massive dork obsessed with Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Twilight (#TeamEdward), Hearthstone, and WoW (Darienne, anyone?), she wore it proudly and never once considered dulling her shine, always ready to geek out on anything with anyone. She had an amazing, varied, often-hip music taste, with some of her favorite artists being Christina Perri, twenty one pilots, Madonna, Backstreet Boys, Sia, Imagine Dragons, Muse, Enrique Iglesias, and P!nk, but her main two loves were 2Pac and Eminem–when we messed up lyrics when either of them were on, the song had to restart. She loved karaoke and would knock out both Eminem’s “Till I Collapse” and 4 Non Blondes “What’s Up” back to back whenever given the chance, but her most recent favorite was ENHYPEN Jay’s cover of Bon Jovi’s “Always.” Her favorite genre overall was 90s gangster rap, but she’d go straight through to pop, rock, RnB, and even classical pieces she wanted to practice later on her keyboard. A wonderful pianist and so outlandishly talented that she’s almost suspicious, she had a great eye for color and an amazing hand for art in partnership. Everything before and more, she was a star-studded mathematician, a table-top game and Tetris champion, a stylish, ahead-of-the-times, absolute rockstar bartender, the best mom someone could ask for, and a truly good person to her heart and soul, always devoted to bettering herself and the world.

As part of Rachel's dedication to growth, she would sometimes stand outside in the sun with her feet in the grass, believing we as people grow best when we are connected to the Earth, the way flora does, and she wished to be given back to nature to continue the energy flow after her passing. We are raising money to make my mom into a tree (or a few!) and to give her the beautiful tribute she deserves after such an arduous life that she handled so elegantly. The money will go toward her funeral and memorial arrangements, and any excess will be donated to the causes she cared for. Thank you for your kindness, taking the time to read, and for helping support Rachel's legacy. Thank you for helping give her a peaceful place to rest, now out of pain.