Mama June’s update about dead daughter’s child will make you cry

June “Mama June” Shannon has weathered more heartbreak than most of us, but her latest revelation about her late daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s child is enough to leave anyone in tears.

In a new interview, the Mama June: Family Crisis star, 45, opened up about stepping in to raise her 12-year-old granddaughter Kaitlyn following Anna’s tragic death at age 29 from stage 4 adrenal carcinoma on Dec. 9 last year. For Shannon, it’s been a bittersweet journey — one filled with grief, love, and glimpses of her beloved daughter in Kaitlyn’s every move.

“Kaitlyn’s been here for over a year now,” Shannon recently told People, noting that Anna and her family had been living with her and her husband, Justin Stroud, before Anna’s passing. “She’s getting adjusted, [and] she definitely reminds us of Anna. I tell a lot of people that if you want to know what Anna looked like as a teenager, Kaitlyn. Attitude, the way she talks, the way she acts, everything is Anna to a f****** T.”

Kaitlyn’s fiery personality and uncanny similarities to Anna have become a source of comfort for Shannon, even as the family grapples with the enormous void Anna’s absence has left behind.

Anna’s death at just 29 years old sent shockwaves through the Shannon family, forcing them to confront unimaginable changes. According to Mama June, the hardest part of this past year has been “her just not being here for the girls.” She then quipped, “A lot of s*** has happened.”

One of the most challenging hurdles was the custody battle over Kaitlyn, which Shannon ultimately won in late September. However, the family had to cope with another blow when Anna’s ex-husband, Michael Cardwell, relocated their younger daughter, Kylee, to Alabama. Anna and Cardwell were together from 2014 to 2017, and had two children.

“We had to also deal with Michael taking Kylee away from everybody here and moving to Alabama,” Shannon said. While Kylee is in her father’s care, Shannon’s focus has remained on providing Kaitlyn with a stable and loving home.

Despite the family’s struggles, Shannon has worked tirelessly to honor Anna’s memory and keep her loved ones close. This includes maintaining a connection with Anna’s widower, Eldridge Toney, a decision Shannon says was guided by what her daughter would have wanted.

“I’ll be honest with you, even with Eldridge, we try to bring him in because Anna would want [him] to be a part of it, for sure,” Shannon told People just this past summer. “So we do bring Eldridge in a lot on some stuff and then some stuff we just keep as a family and just try to really figure it out.”

Adjusting to life with Kaitlyn in their home hasn’t also been easy for Mama June and her husband, Stroud. “Honestly, the first year of our relationship, we didn’t have any kids in the house,” she revealed. “And then it came where Anna and Eldridge and the kids moved into our house before she passed away and now Kaitlyn’s there and it’s just an adjustment period.”

If things get rough, Shannon admitted she would call in some backup. “If something’s going on, I’m going to call Pumpkin and then put it in our family group chat and say, ‘Hey, this is going on,’” she said, mentioning her other daughter, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 24, who is now a mom of three.

Aside from Anna and Pumpkin, Shannon is a mother to Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, 28, and reality TV breakout star Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Shannon, 19. Their family life has been largely documented in their long-running TLC series.