NEW ORLEANS — Two years ago, we told you the story of Ramona Brown, a 3-year-old girl who went missing in a house fire in 1984.
Her two brothers. Kevin and Aubrey Jr. both died in the fire. Their remains were found.
Ramona's were not.
When we reported about the Brown family's desire for a full investigation, on their struggle to find closure, Ramona's mother Johnnie Mae was battling stage four cancer.
She didn't want people to see the toll it was taking on her.
Johnnie Mae Brown passed away June 18 surrounded by her kids and grandchildren, in the house she said she would never leave. The house she built back on its original site in case Ramona might find her way home one day.
Johnnie Mae's children lined up in the front of the church where they held her funeral Friday; a family missing their mother' love, laughs and strength that impressed me the first time I met her.
As a mother, how do you move on from essentially losing three children in one terrible night, and come out the other side to live a life so full that it ends with a packed house at your funeral?
Johnnie Mae Brown did. May she rest in peace.