Update 10/7/26:
Thank you to everyone who has kept my family near to their hearts and donated to this memorial. The funds are being kept aside until I reach a reasonable goal to lay Mama where she wanted to be. I am simply not rushing this. My mama is home with me and my sister where she will be protected and loved.
Forest Lawn Memorial Park accepts direct payment. Debit card payment is preferred. Please call Forest Lawn Memorial Park at 864-225-1636 to make payment toward Annie Mae Everette’s (fka Hammond) burial charges.
Help Us Lay Mama to Rest Where She Belongs
Goal: $1,500
My sister and I are asking for help after the sudden and traumatic loss of our mother.
Nothing could have prepared us for what happened. Her death was unexpected, and my sister and I were faced with the heartbreaking decision to remove our mother from life support. While we are still trying to process that trauma and grieve, we have also been left with the responsibility of making and paying for her final arrangements.
Mama did not have life insurance or funds set aside for her burial. What she did have was a place she had chosen long ago.
For approximately 35 years, Mama held onto a burial plot beside her late husband, Robbie Hammond. Through all those years and everything life brought with it, she kept that plot. That is where she wanted to be laid to rest, and my sister and I want very much to honor that final wish.
We have taken care of her cremation, but we still need to pay approximately $900 to open and close her grave and another $200 in cemetery/service administration expenses.
We would also like to have a simple gathering for family and friends following her graveside service—nothing elaborate. We hope to find a church or park in her hometown where the people who loved Mama can come together, share finger foods and homemade dishes, tell stories, laugh, cry, and say goodbye.
There are also expenses that aren't reflected on a cemetery bill. I have lived in the Charleston area for approximately 20 years, and Mama's hometown is about 300 miles away. I am coordinating much of this from Charleston, which means traveling approximately 600 miles round trip, additional driving while I'm there, gasoline, meals and other travel expenses. I will also have to take time away from my childcare work, resulting in lost income while I handle her arrangements and attend her service.
We have currently raised $225 for Mama, and I am incredibly thankful for everyone who has already helped us. Our overall goal is approximately $2,500 to help cover her remaining cemetery and graveside expenses, travel, lost income associated with arranging her burial, and a modest gathering afterward.
This loss has also come during an incredibly difficult season for me personally. September marks seven years since the death of my oldest daughter, Brittney, who died unexpectedly at only 24 years old. September 21, 2019 changed my life forever. I have spent these years learning how to carry that grief while trying to find peace, healing and forgiveness.
Now I find myself grieving my mama while approaching another anniversary of losing my daughter.
More than anything, I want to finish what needs to be done, honor the wish Mama held onto for all those years, lay her to rest beside Robbie, and finally know that she is where she wanted to be.
If you are able to give, no amount is too small. If you cannot donate, sharing this fundraiser can help us just as much by getting Mama's story in front of someone who may be able to help.
Any funds raised will be used toward the expenses associated with Mama's final arrangements, graveside service, burial, gathering, and the travel and time away from work necessary to coordinate everything.
Thank you for every donation, share, prayer, resource and kind word our family has received. We truly appreciate it more than we can say. ❤️
— Carolyn & family
Please pray for peace and strength for our family as we grieve, for my sister and me as we work through the trauma surrounding Mama's death, and that we are able to raise what is needed to honor her final wishes and lay her to rest. Please also pray for healing as our family moves forward through another season of loss. ❤️
