MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — "Growing up, you know, she loved life. She loved spending time with her friends, spending time with her family, going out and doing things," said Jamie Maynard, mother of 24-year-old Searra Lucas who died after a crash off Apple Avenue in Muskegon County involving a semi.
Jamie and Todd Maynard said they want their daughter to be remembered for her giving heart and commitment to her loved ones.
"If she had it, she would give it," said Jamie. "She'd give the shirt off her back if she had it to give. Her kids were her world. Her husband was her world. There's nothing that she wouldn't do for them."
Searra leaves behind her parents, siblings, her husband Donald and their three children, in addition to lifelong friends.
Jamie and Todd's home is decorated with photos of Searra and her siblings, even photos of Searra with her best friend when they were six months old.
They said those memories will be passed down to Searra and Donald's three young children.
"Memories of their mommy are going to fade," said Jamie. "The only thing they're gonna have are the stories we tell them, the pictures we show them, how beautiful and loving and caring she was, and how much I know she wishes she could be there for them."
"She was a huge support team for Donald," said Todd. "They started their own business and she was handling the phone and doing the kind of office things, at the same time she would take care of the kids while she's doing all that, you know, she always had her hands full and she was a handful growing up, and that's fine, she taught me just as much as I could ever say I was teaching her."
"She took life by, by the handles, and just wanted to give her kids everything she could possibly give them and be the best wife, daughter, sister, mother," said Jamie.
Their message for others is to take every moment to embrace loved ones.
"Love your kids. Love your family, because you never know...they could be driving down the road like her, or anybody, and they're gone. It happens in a blink of an eye, and it happens all the time," said Jamie.
Loved ones of Searra have created a GoFundMe page to help support Searra's husband and their three children.
"If you want to stand behind Searra and help her and her kids, the GoFundMe is there," said Jamie. "The GoFundMe is going to be used directly for her, and her children and her husband. It's going to help by a stone, it's going to help be able to to bury her and give her the proper memorial and burial that she deserves."
A link to the GoFundMe can be found here.
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