Mama June Shannon Says Late Daughter Anna's Death 'Feels Surreal' 1 Year Later: 'We Want Her to Be Remembered' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Anna Cardwell and Mama June Shannon are pictured together.Photo:Mega

Mega

Monday, Dec. 9 marks the first anniversary ofAnna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s death — and the late reality star’s mother,Mama June Shannon, is now candidly sharing her feelings about the moment.

“It feels surreal, if that makes sense,” June, 45, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “This weekend would’ve been her declining weekend because she passed away on Sunday. She passed away on her daughter’s birthday, her youngest daughter’s birthday.”

Annadied on Dec. 9, 2023, at age 29. Her death came 10 months after she was diagnosed withstage 4 adrenal carcinoma.

Anna Cardwell is pictured.Anna Cardwell Instagram

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Admittedly, for June, “Some days are good and I can put on that face. Well, they’re not good, but I can act like it’s good,” she says.

“But then there’s just some days I can just sit here and I just wallow in it,” she continues. “I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t want to be bothered. I went through that slump I think until a month or so ago where I didn’t go for four months to get my hair done. I didn’t go get my nails done. I still hadn’t got my lashes done. It’s like you just get in these funks and sometimes I’m just f—ing pissed off and mad because I’m like, ‘Why?'”

Anna Cardwell with her kids Kaitlyn and Kylee and Eldridge Toney.Anna Cardwell Facebook

Anna Cardwell Facebook

“I think us, as a family, we’re just kind of …  I wouldn’t even say not acknowledging it, but not want[ing] to really think about it,” she says, explaining the difficulty around navigating her loss. “Trust me, I talk about her all the f—ing time.”

Anna Cardwell is pictured with her family.Lauryn Efird/Instagram

Lauryn Efird/Instagram

“Our family chat, we do text in that but then we’re like, ‘Oh, my God, if somebody ever gets her number.’ It must have went [to someone who doesn’t have] an iPhone anymore because now my messages are going through as green, so we think that it just went to an Android user. Nobody’s ever responded back, but we’re just waiting for somebody to respond back and be like, ‘Y’all got the wrong number.'”

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June says the family is “keeping her as alive as [best as] we can,” and she hopes fans do the same.

“We just want people to remember Anna and stuff like that,” she adds. “Whether it’s this year or next year or three years from now, we want her to be remembered, always.”

source: people.com