Sara Sunshine Rosado

What a privilege it has been to have known and loved Sara Sunshine throughout her decades filled with adventures, tribulations, and effervescent grace. In knowing Sara, we were blessed to have experienced the most genuine of relationships, whether by blood, chosen family, or friendship itself; we, the lucky companions of Sara, were witness to what it meant to be loved in action, to persist in the face of significant challenges, and to be held accountable to be the best version of ourselves. In writing this memorial, we hope to capture Sara’s essence through a brief list of her most noble attributes, as well as those special quirks we will no doubt carry with us for the rest of our lives, all the while knowing there are not enough words in any language to capture the profound impact she made on us throughout her 35 years.

First, Sara was an incredible mother to Elliot Anderson, age 9, and partner to Brian Anderson, whose age in years of wisdom and life experience would not fit within the allocated character count. Sara believed in teaching Elliot to be kind, respectful, creative, and enthusiastic in all that he does, and it does not take long to see that exemplified in the kindness Elliot shows the neighbor’s dog, the beautiful rock he found on a walk, or his mom’s friends walking through the door to visit her bedside before she passed, regardless of his recognition. While she may no longer be physically by his side, Elliot will always have the memories of their explorations, her many shared life lessons, and the warmth of Sara’s love to carry him through the rest of his life. For Brian, Sara was equal parts partner and confidant; they learned to parent together, learned how to manage through Sara’s medical journey as a team, and most importantly, learned that coexisting with someone who prefers the thermostat set to 78 in the winter means you set the thermostat to 74 and get said someone a heated blanket. (She always said it was in her heritage to need warmth – and yet somehow, she ended up in Chicago!) Brian and Elliot will learn to live without Sara’s physical presence, but their lives will be guided and protected by her legacy of love for as long as her memory persists.

Second, Sara was an amazing friend. Whether she had known you for a few minutes or for most of her life, as long as you met her strict parameter of doing no harm to those who do not deserve it, you had a friend for eternity. One of Sara’s particularly special skills was the ability to perfectly balance the fine line between tough love and absolute verbal demolition; it was not an infrequent experience to find oneself on the receiving end of a very loving, very enthusiastic, and very make-yourself-think-twice-about-doubting-yourself lecture, along with a promise to put whomever made you feel that way on the yes-I-will-hit-them-with-my-walker proverbial list. (…Semi-proverbial.) Sara also paid close attention to the things you said you liked – this was not so much to stash away information for later discussion or mention, but instead to find the exact opposite of what you liked and send it to you as a “hate-mas” gift for every remaining Christmas and birthday she had. A lesson learned better late than never, but now, with Sara passing, we no longer have to kick ourselves when we accidentally utter something new that would have perturbed her.

Third, Sara was profoundly in love with her lived experience, cancer be damned. She would often reminisce on growing up with her sisters, her mother who preceded her in death, and her father. She spoke about her grandparents and her friends growing up; of going to school in Grand Rapids, and of studying mathematics and physics. She would light up when talking about her time running student council in college, knowing that her efforts then were still prevalent today in policy relating to student inclusivity. She would regularly bring up the sometimes (often) wild experiences associated with coming of age in the city, of her earliest roommates, and of her past relationships. She loved to relay her experiences teaching crochet to folks in Chicago, a class that she put her heart and soul into curating to encourage those at all levels to take a chance on creativity. Sara spent her teens learning how to live in an unfair world, her early twenties embracing authenticity, her late twenties venturing into the world of serious work and parenthood, and finally her thirties defining what it meant to be a woman with grit, patience, endurance, and hope, even right up to her final weeks of her life. Sara lived a life that was not always easy but was without a doubt veritably guided by her commitment to supporting her family, friends, community, and self along with a persistent goal to leave the world better than she found it.

We could keep going, but the aforementioned word count is catching up, and it’s highly likely that the nice words in this obituary are probably going to earn us some extra Sara-haunting experiences in the near future, as she promised. While it is horrifically unfair to have lost Sara so soon, we are so incredibly blessed to have had her in our lives. To carry on her legacy, it will be important for each of us to remember that no matter the circumstances, we must always be kind, truthful, and passionate about that which matters most in our lives. We need to remember that the privilege of aging is not afforded to everyone, and for those of us continuing on, the best way to commemorate the life of someone as special as Sara is to live authentically. As we gather together on Friday, February 7th, to celebrate Sara’s legacy, please consider this a moment in the journey of life, and plan to promptly resume carrying on in Sara-like fashion by spreading joy, advocacy, and love in all that you do.

Friends and family will gather for a memorial visitation on Friday, February 7, 2025 from 4-8PM with a prayer service at 5PM, at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625.