“The sparkle in my eyes.”
AdeleMaye loved her family, especially her older brother Justin and his wife Celeste, who were like second parents to her throughout her life. Every year, her family took a trip to California to visit her cousins. She was the youngest of 13 and loved spending time with them. Like many girls, AdeleMaye loved animals and playing with her friends and her Barbies. She was a kind and generous girl who took care of others and rooted for the underdog. She comforted the kids in her school who got bullied, even though she was also bullied.
Adele loved going on trips with her family, especially to the beach to visit her mother. Her mother, Janet, had a convertible, and she says that AdeleMaye and her friends loved riding in it and pumping their fists to get truck drivers to honk. Adele enjoyed dressing up and walking on the boardwalk, going shopping, and watching movies. She cherished tradition, and her favorite time of year was fall, when she and her mother went to parades and apple festivals. She also loved Christmas, baking cookies every year and attended church services and Christmas plays.
Adele wanted to make the world a better place in all she did, so she was passionate about her work, whether she was working retail or doing hair and makeup. She relished the chance to make others feel good about themselves, and her customers always praised her compassion and attentiveness. Her dream was to be a neonatal nurse so she could care for children like herself, who came into the world prematurely. Nursing school was tough for her, but she was tenacious. In fact, she was supposed to start school again the week she passed away.
Adele dreamed of starting her own family and was pregnant when she passed away. While she never got to fulfill that dream, Adele’s sister Amber, who she loved very much, raised Adele’s favorite person, her niece Rose, who Adele adored from the second she was born. She took every chance she got to play with Rose. They bonded by going out to the movies, parades, and, of course, shopping at the mall, which they both loved. While Adele cherished her entire family, Janet says that her father was her strongest ally, and always wanted to believe the best in her.
It was the medication prescribed to Adele after her tragic car accident that began her addiction, Janet said. The hardest part of seeing her struggle was watching it destroy her dreams, health, relationships, and the sparkle in her eyes. Janet says that Adele’s disease has helped her understand addiction and make healthier choices in her own life. She is a staunch advocate for awareness of substance use disorder and attends grief support groups regularly. She misses Adele every day but has remained close with Adele’s friends to keep Adele’s memory alive.
AdeleMaye’s mother, Janet Close, provided the information for this narrative.
August 31, 1991 – September 7, 2020-Age 29
Portrait Artist: Jeremy Hebbel
Narrative Writer: Victoria Estes
