Nearly a year after Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell passed away at the age of 29 amid her battle with cancer, Mama June Shannon spoke out about how her family has managed without her eldest daughter.
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While speaking to PEOPLE recently, Mama June said she and her family have found ways to include Cardwell in their lives following her death.
“[We are] just keeping her as alive as [best as] we can,” Shannon said. “Letting [her eldest daughter] Kaitlyn know momma loved her.”
Mama June further explained that she takes her daughter’s urn everywhere. “I’m talking about the whole urn. People might think I’m crazy, but we’re talking about the whole urn. We’re not talking about the little baby urn.”
She continued by noting that she and other family members also wear jewelry with Cardwell’s ashes.
However, she pointed out that the family does not take the urn with them when they travel by air. “If we’re driving somewhere, she goes with us. Now, do we fly with her? No. But we fly with her on jewelry. We don’t fly with the big urn. If we’re flying, no, she’s not left in the house.”
Shannon also explained, “What we normally do is we take her in the car, we’ll leave her in the car parked at a parking lot, and then she stays there for a week because we don’t want to fly with her and then have her taken away. We just don’t want to take that risk.”
Mama June further shared that the family “definitely” travels with Cardwell on road trips. “We drove to Colorado, she went to Alabama, she’s going to South Carolina this weekend. So just keeping that part like, ‘Okay, Anna’s in the car.’ Or we went to Justin’s momma this past week in Alabama, and I was like, ‘Well, shoot, we brought Anna here.’”
Mama June Shannon Stated Anna Cardwell Loved Being in the Spotlight
As she continued to reflect on her daughter’s life and legacy, Mama June Shannon pointed out that Anna Cardwell loved being in the spotlight.
“She did not give a f— what it was, being on TikTok or anything else, she loved being in the spotlight,” Shannon stated. “She loved being on reality TV because if it was up to her, we would’ve streamed her funeral. And that’s what she wanted, and we [were] like, ‘No, no.'”
“That was the only wish we did not give her when she passed away,” Mama June noted.
Shannon went on to add that it was essential to keep Cardwell’s memory alive not just for her family, but also for her fans. “We just want people to remember Anna and stuff like that. Whether it’s this year or next year or three years from now, we want her to be remembered, always.”