Hi, I’m Karrie, the granddaughter of Juanita Bryant. She has passed away as of Tuesday, and we are trying to find a way to pay for her burial so she can be laid to rest next to my grandpa (her husband) and her son, who is also buried in the same cemetery.

The truth is, though, she has a life insurance policy that covers the cost, but the beneficiary (her last living son, which is my dad) refuses to sign it over to the funeral home. He will not cooperate and has stopped communicating with me about trying to lay his mother to rest. In his mind, he believes the insurance policy is fake and he’ll be responsible for the bill. Or he could be saying that so he can claim the money for himself after her burial. All he has ever been able to focus on is money and not about the most important part, which is to lay my grandmother to rest with the rest of what is left of my family.

The most hurtful part of this whole situation is he even told the funeral director to let the State of Alabama take her to be buried instead of trying to do what is right for her. I don’t know if you know how the State buries people who have been unclaimed, but I do, and it’s killing me inside to think about. I am willing to pay for this so she can be placed where she is meant to be instead of an unmarked grave.

My family has been very dysfunctional all of my life, and my grandparents are the ones who raised me. I will always be grateful for them, so I’m trying to find a way to cover the expenses myself. It’s the only thing left that I can do to make sure she can rest in peace where she is meant to be. The cost is $7000 for direct burial or $4000 for cremation with internment, and the funeral home is Walker's Chapel Funeral Home on 1200 Ellard Road, Fultondale. You are welcome to call them and verify that what I say is true. The funeral director gave me until Monday to get my dad to sign, or they’ll have to turn her over to the state. If there’s any way you can help, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

update: I’ve taken out a loan to help cover the cost for cremation. All donations will go towards helping me pay off the loan. I understand if you’re unable to donate so if you could please share this I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you