Brandy Michelle Lumpkin

Brandy Lumpy was brought into this world of wonder on August 16, 1981. Her young life was normal until a few months later, when she developed breathing problems and fractional brain damage. On top of that, she had sudden infant death syndrome. Many of the doctors said she wouldn't be a functioning child, let alone an adult, yet one doctor said otherwise. She proved all the doctors wrong—except that one. After spending time in the hospital, she was hooked on a monitor that kept her mother on her feet, especially when Brandy would playfully unplug it on purpose.

In her younger years through her teens, she and her older sister, Jennifer, would watch Garfield's Halloween Adventure, giggling at Binky's lines. But one movie she loved to watch, maybe to death, was Free Willy. Even watching it on repeat, Jennifer wouldn't change that for the world. As she got older, Brandy loved to visit family in Ohio for the summer, see the manatees at SeaWorld, and go to the zoo in Columbus.

She went on to graduate high school in 2000, then attended trade school to become a CNA—a certified nursing assistant. Her days on campus in her free time would include soothing her soul listening to Tupac or sharing moments with friends. A few years later, in 2003, she became a mother. In life, she made a lot of sacrifices as a single mother and for those around her.

She loved the beach and had dreams on her bucket list: to swim with the manatees, go to Australia to hold a sloth, and cage dive to watch sharks. She was a woman who dreamed of adventure and connection with the world around her.

My mother was a quiet soul. She never took up the space she deserved. She was the person you saw help those around her, not because she needed to, but because she wanted to. She at first seemed like a tough cookie, but underneath it all, she was warmer than a baked cookie and just as soft. Despite how she looked on the outside, she trusted very few people. If you gained her trust, that was worth more than the weight of gold. She wasn't perfect, but our flaws make us who we are, and that goes for her too. Flaws and all, I wouldn't want her to change—her sass, her stubbornness, her particular ways, along with her playful spirit that made her *her*. She gave me and others reasons to remember the everyday moments, the ones you'd gloss over. She made them shine. Without her, they lack the shine they once had.

Unfortunately, on August 28, 2025, life would never be the same for her or those around her. For a month and six days, she suffered until she was finally put to rest on October 2nd, 2025, at 11:55 PM, at Henrico Doctors' Hospital—where she took her first breath, she took her last. She was surrounded by her mother and her daughter in her final moments.

You never know how bright someone makes a moment until they leave. Even in the simplest everyday things, she gave you a reason to smile, a memory you'll never forget, a moment you hold on to forever.

Brandy leaves her moments and memories with her beloved daughter, Nya M. Drew; her mother, Kathleen A. Wilson; her stepfather, Robert A. Wilson; her older sister, Jennifer D. Delamorton, and her children, Taylor, Jordan, and Ben; their father, Dan A. Delamorton; along with her younger sister, Victoria "Katie" Katelyn Lumpkin.