My mom passed away on October 21st, 2024, and still doesn’t have a headstone. This is my second attempt to raise money for one. First, I was trying to honor her wishes and get her the double headstone she wanted, but sadly I was unable to make that happen. So now I am just trying to raise funds to get her a headstone that will match my brother's, which she is buried next to, as prices are just increasing and I am desperate at this point. We had raised $600 towards the double, which I have moved over to this GoFundMe.

For those that didn’t know my mom, let me tell you a little about her.

My mom (Debbie Bailey) had 7 kids, plus many more kids she took in and helped raise. Sadly, in that time, she lost 2 children: a 3-month-old daughter and a 19-year-old son. Her life was never easy, but she tried so hard to be there when she could. She babysat some of her grandkids so her kids could work, and she helped raise many of her grandkids. Being a Nana was something that meant the world to her.

So much so that even though she couldn’t afford to buy her insulin at times, she still found ways to get a card and $5 to each one of her grandkids at Christmas time. And she would fight us if we refused to allow it. Thankfully, we found a fountain that helped with her meds, but this tells you that her grandkids mattered more than her own life did.

She was 17 years old when she married my dad, and though my mom and dad would bicker, you could see the deep love those two shared. They got to spend 54 years together before she passed.

My mom was the kind of person that would give you the shirt off her back if she felt you needed it. She never stopped and thought about how helping someone would hurt her. She would go without if someone needed something, and she wouldn’t tell that person she helped.

When she found out that nobody in my house celebrated my birthday, she started having a cake sent to me every year. I didn’t realize that meant her and my dad were going without groceries until she passed away and I had to take over my dad’s finances. This is who my mom was!

For her to be in an unmarked grave destroys me now. My husband and I used all our savings for the funeral and home repairs to my parents' house prior to her death. Sadly, my husband also lost his mom last year and had her funeral to pay for as well.

We are now struggling to pay our own bills each month, which makes it impossible to cover the cost of a headstone alone.

This is why I have come here to ask for help. This cost is for my mom's headstone that will match my brother's headstone and a vase to place flowers in. I understand most cannot afford to donate, but please at least share this. This is the last thing I will ever be able to do for my mom, and I need help to make it happen.