In a small Illinois apartment, a 52-year-old mom is spending what time she has left trying to solve a problem most people never have to think about: how to afford her own burial. Her cancer is terminal, the clock is not on her side, and her last wish is heartbreakingly simple, to rest beside her dad in the Alabama cemetery where she grew up visiting his grave. Instead of planning vacations or retirement, she is pricing out travel, a plot, and a headstone, hoping strangers will help her family carry the cost.
Her story is not about giving up. It is about a woman trying to protect her children from one more blow, emotional and financial, after years of watching her body fail. As she asks her community for help, she is also forcing an uncomfortable conversation about what it means to die in America without a safety net.
The mom, the diagnosis, and a final promise to her dad
The woman at the center of this story is a 52-year-old mom from Illinois who has been living with colon cancer since she was diagnosed in 2022. Doctors have now told her the disease is terminal, and treatment has shifted from cure to comfort, a pivot that leaves her with limited energy and a very clear sense of what matters most. According to detailed accounts of her case, she is described as a 52-year-old mom from Illinois who is dying of colon cancer after a three year fight, a blunt reality she now talks about openly with her family.
Her name is Christy Schroeder, and before cancer took over her calendar she spent 12 years working as a certified nursing assistant in memory care, tending to other families’ parents and grandparents as they faded. That long stretch as a caregiver is documented in coverage that notes how, Before battling cancer, Christy Schroeder, 52, worked in that role for more than a decade. Now the roles are reversed, and it is her own adult children who are helping her dress, get to appointments, and navigate the maze of bills that come with serious illness.
Why resting beside her dad in Alabama matters so much
As her health declines, Christy has zeroed in on one specific request, to be buried next to her dad in Scottsboro, Alabama. That is where her father is already laid to rest, and it is where she imagines her children visiting both grandparents in one quiet corner of the cemetery. Reports on her situation explain that She hopes for enough money to cover travel fees and a grave stone in a plot beside her dad in Scottsboro, Alabama, a level of detail that shows how carefully she has thought through the logistics.
That planning is not just sentimental. Christy does not have life insurance, and she is painfully aware that funerals, travel, and burial plots add up fast. In her own words, shared through a fundraiser, she has said, “Without life insurance, I am worried about leaving these expenses to my family, who have already supported me so much through this,” a plea that has been highlighted in coverage of her story and linked to her public appeal that begins with the phrase Without life insurance. For her, being buried beside her dad is not just about geography, it is about sparing her kids from having to choose between honoring her wish and paying their own rent.
The daughter fighting her own battle, and the community stepping in
Christy is not the only one in the family carrying a heavy load. Her daughter Amanda is in recovery from addiction, working to stay sober while also helping her mom navigate the end of life. One report notes that Amanda faces a separate challenge alongside her mom’s fight with cancer, as she continues her own recovery. That dual struggle, addiction and terminal illness under the same roof, adds another layer of urgency to Christy’s wish to keep future burdens as light as possible for her kids.
Friends and strangers have started to respond. A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover the costs of getting Christy from Illinois to Alabama and securing the plot and headstone she wants. In one account of the fundraiser, the story is framed around a Mom, 52, Dying of Cancer Pleads with Community for Help So She Can Be Buried Next to Her Dad, a description that captures both her age and the specific nature of her request. Another report refers to the situation more simply, describing a Woman dying of cancer who is asking for help to fulfill a final wish to be buried next to her dad, a line that has resonated with donors who know exactly what their money is going toward.
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