Support Braeon's College Journey After Losing His Mother

Last week Braeon’s mother Tenisha passed away after a long hard-fought battle with cancer. This was a hard blow for the entire family, but it has been especially difficult for Braeon. Tenisha was a single mother and Braeon is an only child, so they had an extremely strong bond. Tenisha (age 42) is preceded in death by her brother Bradley L. Taylor, her father Bradley K. Taylor, and her mother Monique Taylor.

Braeon is only 20 years old, most young adults his age may decide to take a gap year after high school to travel or just to have some time to get some mental clarity on what career they want to pursue after high school. In Braeon’s situation, he decided to take a gap year to become the primary caregiver for his ailing mother. Over the last few years of Tenisha’s life as the cancer continued to metastasize, her condition worsened. Initially, the support that Braeon provided to Tenisha was for simple things like helping her up and down stairs, taking her to appointments, and picking up medications. Eventually, that care evolved into 24/7 care. Braeon did not want his mother to be in a long-term care facility and with the support of his aunts and uncle, we kept her out of a facility as long as we could. Unfortunately, her condition got to the point where the family just could not meet the demands of her day-to-day needs. The family was able to get her into a suitable facility where she spent the last four months of her life.

Once Tenisha was transferred into a long-term care facility, Braeon decided that he was ready to take college courses to pursue a career in software engineering. He is presently attending Oakland Community College where he is getting pre-requisite classes completed before he transfers to a larger university – Wayne State is his targeted school. Braeon was balancing visiting his mother, work, and school, which is a full plate as a young adult. Now he must deal with the grief of losing his mother, as he works towards creating his own path.

The family has put together the funds for Tenisha’s funeral service. We created this page to try to raise funds to help support Braeon in his future college endeavors. The goal is to try to get at least his tuition covered for Oakland Community College and maybe even have some funds to help cover his first year of Wayne State. Any donation size is welcomed, and we thank you for your generosity!