Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s husband shares an update on his relationship with her daughters.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Eldridge Toney reflected on the first few months since his wife’s death in December, which came less than a year after she was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal cancer.
Cardwell and Toney began dating in 2017 following Cardwell’s divorce from ex-husband Michael Cardwell, with whom she had daughter Kylee Madison, 11. Cardwell is also mother to daughter Kaitlyn Elizabeth, 8.
“Yeah, yeah, I saw them as much as I could,” Toney tells PEOPLE of Cardwell’s daughters. “I was very adamant about seeing them both.”
“Now it’s easier to see Kaitlyn than Kylee, just because Kaitlyn is right on the road. And I pretty much know June and Justin’s schedule. But as for Kylee, I don’t see her as much, but I still see her as much as possible.”
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Anne ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell’s husband vows to ‘have the time of his life’ sharing his story with his daughters (Exclusive)
Although he does not have custody of Cardwell’s daughters, Toney says he still feels like a second father to her girls.
“You know, since I’ve been with Anna for so long, we’ve had these conversations where I’ve sat with Michael [Cardwell] both Anna and Michael looked at me like I was going to be another father to his daughter and he was fine with that,” shares Toney.
“I’m careful to stay true to the promise I made to Anna,” he adds. “I love watching girls grow up.”
“One thing that Anna always messed with Kylee about was that her hair would never grow long,” Toney remembers. “Even at the age of 7, she had very short hair. It barely went over her ears.”
“And just now when I see that her hair is starting to grow so long, as if it has already passed her shoulders, and in those moments I really think about Anna and how she would smile, so wide, just to see that her hair is actually starting to grow .. That are just such trifles.”
In the days following his wife’s death, Toney shared with PEOPLE a promise he made to Cardwell regarding her two daughters. “The day before she died, we talked and said our goodbyes,” Toney told PEOPLE at the time.
“Her dying wish was that her girls would grow up knowing who their mother was. And I promised that I would always do right by the girls. I would spend my life doing good to Anna and the girls.”
“Those are my girls,” Toney said of Cardwell’s daughters. “I promised Anna that I would do the right thing and make sure they remember their mom. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
Cardwell and Toney were married in Wilkinson County, Georgia on March 4, shortly after her diagnosis because they “knew that time was limited.”
On December 9, 2023, Here comes Honey Boo Boo the alum died at the age of 29. While announcing the death on Instagram, her mother Mama June Shannon shared a family photo and wrote: “It is with broken hearts that we announce that @annamarie35 is no longer with us. She passed away in my home one last peaceful night at 11:12pm.”
“She put up one hell of a fight for 10 months and she died with her family around her as she won’t and we will update you with more information as we get it today,” Shannon continued.
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Source: HIS Education