Hi, this is Meg and our family is fundraising to help pay for the final expenses for Mammy (Sherry Taylor). She is in the final stage of Congestive Heart Failure, and rapidly declining every day.

Anyone who knows Mammy knows that she has always been the picture of strength. While her terminal diagnosis of Restrictive Cardiomyopathy came over 15 years ago, she has never let it hold her back, or even taken adequate time to rest and care for herself. And while our family has always lived under the umbrella of fear for when her time came, we also could not imagine her ever being anything less than stronger and more enduring than all of us, which is why her sudden decline has taken us by surprise, leaving us entirely unprepared in every aspect.

As long as Mammy has been in our lives, she has never known true self worth or had any idea the magnitude of love and adoration that she has both shared with her loved ones, or that has been shared with her. She lived a large life when it came to all those that she impacted, from her family, to her friends, coworkers, softball comrades, and spanning all the way to people that have only ever known her via the internet. If I had a quarter for every time that I heard someone say the words "I need a Mammy", or "Everyone needs a Mammy" in reference to how wonderful she is, then I would not need to worry about how we will lay her to rest.

Between the rapid progress of her decline and her daily symptoms, we do not believe that Mammy will be with us for many more days. Our family is shattered to have to face what life will look like when she has departed, but in addition we have also had to make major life changes to be able to navigate and care for our children and family as we move forward without her, including me resigning from my job. One can only imagine what kind of financial impact that is in today's economy, and we are scrambling to figure out how to honor the final wishes of the matriarch of our family.

For anyone who has truly known Mammy, to you I pass my condolences, as I know that she had a way of leaving her mark and will not easily be forgotten. I have fought for 13 years to get her to see how much she has meant to so many people, but until these last few days, she has never believed it. So, in closing, I want to offer a peaceful thought from her words to me yesterday, albeit heartbreaking-

"I am no longer sad or angry about the way that I lived my life, or the mistakes that I have made, because I now know that I did the best that I could. I wish I had known that a lot sooner. Now, I am filled with sadness that I will not see you all continue to grow, or what the kids grow up and become. I am sad because I will miss all the rest of what comes next."

Any and all donations towards Mammy's final expenses will be appreciated more than words can express. The costs that we hope to cover include her cremation and celebration of life, which, in true Mammy form, she has named her "Bucket Kicking Event", and the details for that will follow.

Thank you in advance.