The late Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell got emotional as she spoke about her daughters on the new season six episode of Mama June: Family Crisis, titled Reality Sets In.
It is the last season she is seen on after her death at 29, and in a heartbreaking hospital scene Anna teared up as her daughter Kaitlyn, eight, and sister Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird, 24, joined her during her third round of chemotherapy.
‘Kaitlyn coming to chemo kind of, like, put everything in perspective. Sorry, I’m crying,’ the reality star – who was battling stage 4 adrenal cancer – said.
‘But, you know, I’m glad that she got to come and see it. You know, now she kind of gets more of an understanding of what’s going on and everything like that. When I talk about the girls, I cry.’
Anna never revealed the father of Kaitlyn, who was born two years before she married former husband Michael Cardwell. She went on to welcome younger daughter Kylee, eight, with Michael in 2015, though the couple split in 2017.
The late Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell got emotional as she spoke about her daughters on the new season six episode of Mama June: Family Crisis, titled Reality Sets In
It is the last season she is seen on after her death at 29, and in a heartbreaking hospital scene Anna teared up as her daughter Kaitlyn, eight, and sister Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird, 24, joined her during her third round of chemotherapy
‘Kaitlyn coming to chemo kind of, like, put everything in perspective. Sorry, I’m crying,’ the reality star – who was battling stage 4 adrenal cancer – said; Pictured with daughters Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, eight, and husband Toney Eldridge, 28
Meanwhile Pumpkin revealed that Anna has been ‘sugarcoating’ her prognosis, and that the situation was a lot more dire.
‘You know, Anna’s sugarcoating this whole cancer thing. And I just want to get a straight answer. And Anna gave the doctor permission to speak to me about where Anna was at in her prognosis. And he told me that it’s time for Anna to start getting her affairs in order.’
‘And when I heard that – like, she does have a 12-year-old and a 7-year-old. And we need to figure out where the kids are gonna go.’
Pumpkin later spoke to her husband Joshua Efird – with whom she shares four children – about Anna’s kids.
‘Nobody knows how this treatment’s gonna go with Anna either, you know? I don’t know, this whole Anna thing has just been kind of stressful, because the last time I was at the doctor and stuff, the doctor straight up told her, you need to get your affairs in order.’
‘And what has she done?’ Joshua asked.
‘I don’t know if Anna’s getting it together or what. But so far, I haven’t seen anything from her. Like, I do get it, but these are things that even if you’re dog tired, you need to take care of. Because what are you gonna do if something happens tomorrow? Because the doctor has done said that. She’s not guaranteed, you know, anything.’
‘Anna hasn’t asked me to take care of Kaitlyn or Kylee, but our kids really are close. And it overwhelms me a little bit because it’s like, I know at the end of the day, if Eldridge can’t do it, I’m gonna be the person who’s gonna have to do it,’ she said of Anna’s husband Eldridge Toney.
‘You’ve talked to Anna more than I have. Like, what does she think? Are we supposed to take in kids?’ her husband asked.
‘But, you know, I’m glad that she got to come and see it. You know, now she kind of gets more of an understanding of what’s going on and everything like that’
‘When I talk about the girls, I cry,’ she added tearfully
Kaitlyn was seen playing on her iPad at the appointment
Meanwhile Pumpkin revealed that Anna has been ‘sugarcoating’ her prognosis, and that the situation was a lot more dire
‘Anna gave the doctor permission to speak to me about where Anna was at in her prognosis. And he told me that it’s time for Anna to start getting her affairs in order’
‘And when I heard that – like, she does have a 12-year-old and a 7-year-old. And we need to figure out where the kids are gonna go’
‘I don’t know. I can’t even sit down and be sad for her for, like, two seconds because we’ve always got a doctor’s appointment for the kids. We’ve always got grocery shopping…’
‘That sounds horrible, dude, in so many ways. But, like, I can’t. I’m sorry, boo. We don’t have the room,’ her husband said. ‘I just can’t, man. I’m sending one off to college now. And then I got four more, half of them in diapers. Like, I don’t have the patience nor the room for anybody else’s kids.’
‘Well, I mean, that’s not my plan at all,’ Pumpkin replies.
‘Well, you better tell her.’
‘What am I really supposed to say to her, boo? Like, sorry. Here’s a lasagna. I’m sorry you have cancer, but I can’t take your kids.’
Following Anna’s death, her mother, June ‘Mama June’ Shannon, 44, reportedly took Kaitlyn in as per Page Six.
Meanwhile Kylee is said to be living with her father.
Earlier in the episode the family were seen enjoying some pool time, but Mama June approached Anna to see if her daughter maybe needed to take a break from the sun.
‘What you doing over here by yourself?’ she asked her.
Pumpkin later spoke to her husband Joshua Efird – with whom she shares four children – about Anna’s kids
‘Anna hasn’t asked me to take care of Kaitlyn or Kylee, but our kids really are close. And it overwhelms me a little bit because it’s like, I know at the end of the day, if Eldridge can’t do it, I’m gonna be the person who’s gonna have to do it’
‘That sounds horrible, dude, in so many ways. But, like, I can’t. We don’t have the room,’ her husband said. ‘Like, I don’t have the patience nor the room for anybody else’s kids’
‘What am I really supposed to say to her, boo? Like, sorry. Here’s a lasagna. I’m sorry you have cancer, but I can’t take your kids’
Following Anna’s death, her mother, June ‘Mama June’ Shannon, 44, reportedly took Kaitlyn in as per Page Six. Meanwhile Kylee is said to be living with her father
‘Just swaying in the rocking chair. I’m not by myself,’ she said, pointing to her family.
‘Do you want to jump in?’ Mama June asked. ‘Hell no,’ Chickadee replied.
‘You know, I’m glad that you were able to come out here and, like, hang out, you know? But I mean, like, you got to tell us. Like, I know you don’t want to be, like, Debbie Downer. But, you know, you do need to tell us, like, hey, you know, maybe I need to go in there and lay down for a minute, or, hey, I need to take a break for a minute, you know?’
‘I’ve been pretty good these past couple days. I just got a headache today,’ Anna replied.
‘So you ready for your next treatment?’ she inquired. ‘Yeah,’ Anna replied, before stating, ‘I need a break.’
Meanwhile Mama June shared her worries about Anna in a separate solo sit-down.
‘Anna might not want to talk about cancer all the time. But I mean, I’m her mother. And, like, it plays on my mind all the time. I’m already an emotional wreck most days from it. And I just want to know how she’s doing, because I mean, hello. She’s got chemo coming up in a couple days.’
‘So are you worried about, like, when you stop the chemo, what may happen, that, you know, it may start, like, growing rapidly again?’ she asked her daughter.
‘I mean. You know, that’s what scans are for,’ Anna replied.
‘Scares me, though. You do need to keep on those doctor’s appointments and on your medicine and, like, stuff like that and let people know, like – these are the people, like, who, like, matter. I mean, these are people who’ve been here,’ Mama June said.
Earlier in the episode the family were seen enjoying some pool time, but Mama June approached Anna to see if her daughter maybe needed to take a break from the sun
‘I know you don’t want to be, like, Debbie Downer. But, you know, you do need to tell us, like, hey, you know, maybe I need to go in there and lay down for a minute,’ she told her
In another scene Anna had a heart to heart with her younger sister Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson, 18, as she attempted to help her figure out her college plans.
‘Pumpkin done sent you up here to talk to me?’ Alana asked, after she revealed feeling pressure from her family in regards to her plans.
‘No, I sent my little happy a** up here.’
‘I just feel like everybody is just trying to pressure me to pick something so fast. And it’s like, I feel like if I pick something fast, then it’s not gonna be what I really want to do. It’s just gonna be, like, what I thought was good in the moment because everybody else wants that to happen.’
‘It’s like, Mama says something, and then Pumpkin has to come back at it. And they have to just bicker, bicker, bicker.’
‘Listen, eff them. This is your chance to, like, spread your wings and fly, get out from underneath Pumpkin, get away from Mama.’
‘But it’s just a lot right now. It’s like, you got stuff going on. And then Dralin’s got stuff going on. And it’s like, I don’t know what to do.’
‘I don’t want you to stay here either because of me with my whole cancer situation. Don’t worry about Dralin. Don’t worry about me. Focus on Alana-poo, period. Done.’
Alana said in a separate sit-down: ‘I’m scared to leave Anna because if something bad happens and I can’t get back in time to even say my last goodbye to her, you know? I feel like Pumpkin and them just keep pressuring me to do it. And I’m like, at least let me work on my own pace, though. At least let me do it on my own.’
In another scene Anna had a heart to heart with her younger sister Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson, 18, as she attempted to help her figure out her college plans
‘But it’s just a lot right now. It’s like, you got stuff going on….I don’t know what to do’
‘I don’t want you to stay here either because of me with my whole cancer situation… Don’t worry about me. Focus on Alana-poo, period. Done’
Alana said in a separate sit-down: ‘I’m scared to leave Anna because if something bad happens and I can’t get back in time to even say my last goodbye to her, you know?’
‘If you don’t follow your dreams and I die within a year or so, I’m gonna f*****g haunt you. I’m gonna haunt you for the rest of your life,’ Anna joked with Alana.
On the previous episode Anna enjoyed her first dance with new husband Eldridge Toney, whom she tied the knot with shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer in January of 2023.
The season will follow Chickadee’s cancer treatments and her family’s attempts to reckon with the inevitable before her death on December 9, 2023.
In the previous episode Anna’s illness seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind as she gets close to Eldridge for their first dance as husband and wife.
The moment opened with Mama June walking into the low-key backyard as someone calls out that Anna and her new husband are set to have their first dance after tying the knot with a secret at-home wedding on March 4 of last year.
The clip is edited to make it look as if Anna never stopped dancing on that magical day, as she’s next seen after the sun has set.
The bride is dressed in a lovely white gown as she takes turns dancing with her youngest daughter Kylee, while Eldridge appears to be dancing with her older daughter Kaitlyn.
‘Are you happy for mommy?’ Anna asks Kylee, who responds affirmatively as they continue slow dancing.
In December, June announced on social media that her daughter Anna had died following her cancer battle.
‘With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,’ she wrote on Instagram while posting a family photo from after Anna’s diagnosis. ‘She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM.
In the previous episode Chickadee enjoyed her first dance with her husband during their March 2023 wedding
‘She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she won’t and we will will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today,’ she added.
It wasn’t until after news of her death that it was reported that Anna and Eldridge had tied the knot in March of 2023.
While speaking to People at the time, Eldridge said his late wife was ‘the one I was supposed to grow old with.’
‘She was my one true love, she was that for me. I will never stop loving her. There will never be another Anna,’ he said.
Mama June: Family Crisis airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.
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