From Melanie's husband, Todd Sage:
On May 15, 2026, my wife Melanie passed away in Mexico due to complications from surgery. She was in the ICU for four days before she left us. I am still finding the words to express what that has done.
If you knew Melanie, you already know. She loved life in a way most of us only talk about. She loved her health, her work, and her friends, and she had a gift for bringing people together. Every conference, every classroom, every coffee shop, every trip, she walked out with new colleagues and new friends. She made the world smaller and kinder just by being in it, and anyone who knew her will carry that with them.
That generosity was not just something she gave at a distance. Many of the people she brought into her life came to live under her roof. Over the years, different people moved in at different points because Melanie saw that they had a need, and we had space. As of right now, our son Kris, and Justine, Skylar, and Jacob — all but adopted into our family — live here with me. Plans are in place to welcome Skylar's sister, Alicia, as well. This was simply the kind of generosity Melanie put into the world. We call ourselves her village, brought together by her love and care for each of us.
Four days in an ICU in Mexico came with costs we did not see coming, and I am working with an attorney to bring Melanie home to the States, which has added both stress and expense to an already impossible week. I am hopeful that insurance will cover much of her ICU care, but the process takes time, and there is real uncertainty about what will and will not be covered. Whatever you can give will help defer those costs while we work through it. And I want to be honest with you — I would spend a hundred times more if it meant she was still here.
Thank you for reading this. Thank you for loving her. Thank you for anything you can give, including just keeping her name alive in your conversations this week and in those to come. She was the best of us.
With love and grief,
Todd, Kris, Justine, Skylar, and Jacob
