It’s been a week since Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell passed away.
She had moved into Mama June Shannon’s home after being placed in hospice three weeks before her death.
Anna and Eldridge Toney had been together since 2017, meeting after Anna divorced Michael Cardwell.
Eldridge remained by Anna’s side, helping with her two daughters, Kaitlyn and Kylee.
So much has changed for Eldridge over the last week, including saying goodbye to his wife (yes, the two were secretly married) and returning to their shared home without her.
The reality of Anna’s death is weighing on Eldridge, and he has talked about what it’s like a week after he lost his wife.
Eldridge Toney opens up about losing Anna Cardwell
Nearly a week after Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell took her final breath, her husband, Eldridge Toney, spoke with PEOPLE about life without Anna.
The couple tied the knot in March after they received the stage 4 diagnosis. However, he wanted to make it clear that they didn’t do it because of the cancer, saying, “We didn’t get married because she had cancer. We just sped up the process because it was always something we planned to do.”
Interestingly, Eldridge also revealed he and Anna never wanted to know how much time she had left. They specifically asked the doctors not to tell them.
And now that Anna’s gone and her funeral has happened, Eldridge opened up about going home without his wife, Kaitlyn, and Kylee.
He said, “It’s going to be a lot different.”
Life without Anna Cardwell
Going home to an empty house with Anna Cardwell and the girls has been “hard to process” for Eldridge Toney.
The rooms without furniture that once were filled with Kaitlyn and Kylee’s things and waking up with Anna have been “very lonely” and getting “harder to process.”
Eldridge will receive some of Anna’s ashes, as Mama June Shannon revealed everyone in the family received one or two things with Anna’s ashes inside to carry around.
He will also be able to see Kaitlyn and Kylee, though it’s unclear how that will work. Mama June Shannon has Kaitlyn with her and plans to file for legal guardianship, while Michael Cardwell has Kylee with him, which was the plan once the family knew how sick Anna was.
Anna filmed her journey for the upcoming season of the family’s reality TV show. Eldridge Toney will likely be a part of that, too.
Mama June: Road to Redemption is currently on hiatus.