MAMA June Shannon’s late daughter Anna Cardwell’s widower got a tattoo made of her ashes so that she’s always with him a year after her tragic death.
In an exclusive video interview with The U.S. Sun, Eldrige Toney, 29, opened up about how the reality star’s daughters Kaitlyn and Kylee are doing being raised in separate homes, his gratitude for the 7 years he had with Anna, and his grief as he works through his first year without her.
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Eldrige explained that after Anna’s heartbreaking death at 29 years old from adrenal cancer, he sought out a tattoo artist who would be willing to work with her ashes for a memorial piece.
“I actually got a tattoo with her ashes in the ink,” he told The U.S. Sun.
“That’s something I did for her right off the bat. I found a really good tattoo artist- a licensed tattoo artist- that was willing to do the ashes for me.”
“I feel like that was a good way to memorialize her, I always have it on my arm and it’ll never go away,” he said adding that her name is featured in the center of the piece.
Read More Mama June and Anna
Eldridge said beyond celebrating Anna’s life with the beautiful ink, he also keeps her memory alive by speaking about her all the time.
“I got a tattoo with her ashes in the ink.
Anna Cardwell’s widower Eldridge Toney
“I always bring her up in conversations with people. I’ve got a lot of friends that knew her personally, and I hope they don’t feel like I bug them, or like I talk about her too much,” he shared.
The 29-year-old jet plane engineer emphasized the importance of him talking about Anna with her daughters, Kaitlyn, 12, who lives with Anna’s mother June in Georgia, and Kylee, 9, who lives with her father Michael Cardwell in Alabama.
“I always talk about her all the time and I talk about her with the girls.
“I always want to make sure they know how much their mom loved them and cared for them, and did right by them.”
BRAVE BATTLE
Anna died after a brief battle with adrenal cancer on December 9, 2023.
“Everything just happened so fast. We found out she had the original tumor back in late 2022 and she had it removed, and then it came back early 2023, and then pretty much all of 2023 she fought until December.
“She was the sweetest girl and super outgoing and I don’t see why something like that had to happen to her.
“She’s got two beautiful children and she should be here, raising them.
REMEMBERING ANNA
Eldridge said the family, including Anna’s daughters, sisters Pumpkin and Jessica, mom June and stepdad Justin Stroud are getting together to mark the first anniversary of her passing.
“We definitely are going to get together and do something for it, we’re just not going to let the day go by.
“We’re going to try and make the best of the day and try not to be depressed all solo and alone.
“So we’re going to try and get together and figure something out and do something good for her.”
SISTERS SEPARATED
Eldridge explained that Anna’s youngest Kylee’s father, Michael, and his new wife, London, moved away from Anna’s family, and her older sister Kaitlyn, from Georgia to Alabama.
Kaitlyn’s biological father has never been a part of her life, and Mama June now has custody of her after a battle with Anna’s ex, Michael.
“Now it’s going to be a little bit more difficult to see Kylee,” he said.
“Kaitlyn’s right down the road so I get to see her every single day. June and Justin let me see her any time I want.
“I pick her up from school from time to time, and we go out and do things.
“We actually went to the movies last night and hung out.
“But for Kylee, like I said, it’s just hard to see her.
“I FaceTime with her, she’s got an iPad so I do get to FaceTime with her and text with her, and I talk to her in those kinds of ways.”
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Eldridge revealed he is going to go to Alabama to visit Kylee for her birthday, which happens to be the same day her mother died.
“Kylee’s birthday is coming up on December 9th, the same day Anna passed away, which is another just crazy thing.
“But I’m coming up the weekend of December 13, I’m going to go to Alabama and see Kylee and celebrate with her for her birthday.”
He said the girls got to see each other recently before Kylee’s dad moved out of state.
“They were able to see each other before he moved to Alabama, June would let Kaitlyn go over there and hang out with Kylee but since he moved to Alabama, it’s going to be hard to work around those kinds of schedules.”
PRAISE FOR MAMA JUNE
“I have to say, Justin and June have been amazing through this whole thing, they’ve been awesome to me,” Eldridge insisted, despite Anna’s former estrangement from June.
“They’ve been there for me. And I just want to get that out there that they’re doing what’s right, and they’ve just been awesome this whole time.”
He added that June and Justin, who wed in 2022, have been excellent caretakers of Anna’s oldest daughter.
“They are definitely been getting her the stuff she needs. They’ve been getting her to or from school, staying on track with her grades, making sure she has supplies and stuff she needs, clothes and stuff like that.
“They’re doing what parents should do. And they’re just doing an awesome job at it.”
AT PEACE
As fans of Mama June know, Anna and her mother had a tumultuous relationship. at best and had gone several years not speaking before Anna was diagnosed with cancer.
Eldridge said the mother and daughter made full amends during the 29-year-old’s fight for her life.
“June and Justin did a lot when it came to being there for Anna, when it came to the chemo treatments or the radiation treatments and just being there for it all.
“Because to be honest with you, June and Justin were the ones that were paying for the Airbnbs for them to be able to stay there all week long, so she didn’t have to suffer in a car ride back and forth from home and back to Atlanta [where the hospital was for chemo].
“So they were the ones that were really financially supporting most of that stuff.
“But as far as June and Anna reuniting, it was a good thing, because June and Anna did have a good conversation where, basically, they let everything that had been bothering them for all the years and just let it go.
“I think Anna was at peace with everything.”
Anna’s widower said he believes June’s sobriety helped her and Anna come to terms at the end.
“I think her sobriety definitely made it possible for her to be there and have her head on straight and make sure everything was good.
I’m really glad that they were able to come together and separate their differences and know that each one was there for the other.”
Eldridge said that after her final cancer treatment, Anna had important talks with both he and June.
“Anna had called me and wanted me to come up there, she wasn’t doing good.
“So I dropped everything I was doing, and I drove straight to Atlanta, and me and Anna had a deep conversation.
“That conversation just kind of spooked me, just because how at peace she was with knowing what the end result was going to be.
“I know that same night, Anna and June had a conversation, that’s when they had their full-blown conversation and they said their peace with everything.”
NO WILL
“I feel like if anybody’s going through a situation like this, it is very important to not wait last minute to do certain things- you definitely need to get your affairs in order and put it on paper, because you never know what’s going to happen.
“Like I said, we never expected her to go as quick as she did. It’s just good to go ahead and get everything in line, just to be safe.
Anna Cardwell’s Adrenal Cancer
Anna was first diagnosed with adrenal cancer in 2022 when doctors removed a tumor, within months the cancer spread.
The Mayo Clinic says adrenal cancer is a rare cancer that begins in one or both of the small, triangular glands (adrenal glands) located on top of your kidneys. Adrenal glands produce hormones that give instructions to virtually every organ and tissue in your body.
Adrenal cancer, also called adrenocortical cancer, can occur at any age. But it’s most likely to affect children younger than 5 and adults in their 40s and 50s.
When adrenal cancer is found early, there is a chance for cure. But if the cancer has spread to areas beyond the adrenal glands, cure becomes less likely. Treatment can be used to delay progression or recurrence.
“As far as, like, putting things on paper with the girls, she felt like she was basically signing her life away as soon as she put stuff on paper about where she wanted the girls to go.
“That was one thing that kind of held her back from that, was that she, she always felt like she had a chance of being here, so she she just felt like she was giving up if she put it on paper, which you shouldn’t feel that way, and can’t go back in time and tell her that, or make her feel a certain way.”
He added that despite not having her final wishes down legally, he believes things are going as good as they could be.
“I feel like things are going pretty good even thou she didn’t put stuff on paper, that things are going pretty well right now.”
HE BELIEVES ANNA VISITS HIM
“I dream about her all the time, sometimes it’s a good dream, sometimes it’s a bad dream. There was one night I had, I had a bad dream, and it woke me up around three o’clock in the morning, and I was just laying in bed, and I couldn’t go to sleep after the dream, and all of a sudden, my PlayStation cuts on by itself, and it kind of freaked me out.
“I do feel like, you know, she’s around, and sometimes you just get that feeling like she’s right there by you. And sometimes I just picture just maybe with a hand on my shoulder or something. I believe in that kind of stuff. I know some people probably don’t, but I do.”
I’m really happy that she decided to marry me. It made me feel great.
Anna’s widower, Eldridge Toney
ON FINALLY MARRYING ANNA
“That’s something that I’ve always that I’ve always wanted, marriage.
“I wanted to marry her, and I I’m extremely grateful that that was able to happen thanks to her sisters and her mom and all them. They put that together and I’m just extremely grateful for them.”
He explained that over the years, he told Anna he wanted to marry her, but she had in her mind they had to break the five year point to go through with it, since she said she didn’t have luck after 5 years.
“And we made it to 7, and I’m grateful for that. I’m really happy that she decided to marry me. It made me feel great.
“A lot of people say that marriage is just a piece of paper, but it really does change everything, like it really does make the relationship feel way more special.”
“It changes your soul, a whole personality, a whole sense, like it makes you engage more in the relationship,” he added.
ON GRIEF
“I tell people I’m doing all right, but deep down, like it’s still super depressing, I’m just still dealing with grief, even a year later, I guess it still feels like yesterday, honestly, and it’s it’s taken a lot of getting used to being independent,” the grieving widower said.
“I’ve just been so used to being with her for the amount of time I was for 7 years, and just going from that to nothing, and it’s really hard.”
But I’m just trying to make the best of it and stay busy, because at the end of the day, when it gets worse, it’s when I’m alone at night time, especially like right before you go to sleep, it hits you the worst.
“It’s definitely tough.”
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