“From the very beginning, Shyla Rae lived with her heart wide open. She gave everything she had to everyone she met — especially to the people who needed someone to believe in them. She worked with troubled youth and adults, pouring her whole soul into helping them find hope, strength, and a way forward. She had a gift for seeing past people’s pain to the goodness inside them, and she refused to give up on anyone.”

Shyla was courageous in every sense of the word. Whatever she decided to do, she did it with full force. Whether it was chasing a dream, standing up for what was right, or rebuilding after life knocked her down, she did it fearlessly. She was strong, stubborn in the best way, and determined to make her own path.

She loved the beach — it was her place of peace, where she could breathe and feel free. The sound of the waves, the salt in the air, the horizon stretching endlessly ahead — that was her kind of heaven. She carried that same sense of vastness within her: deep emotion, deep loyalty, and deep love. But even the strongest hearts can grow tired. A darkness crept in, one that became too heavy for her to keep carrying alone. On January 24, 2023, at just 33 years old, Shyla left this world — leaving behind her daughter, her brother, her father, and me, her mom and best friend.

There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t feel her absence — or her presence. She’s in her daughter’s smile, in every act of kindness done in her honor, in the quiet strength that runs through all of us because of her. Shyla lived boldly, loved deeply, and gave endlessly. She changed lives — not because she was perfect, but because she was real. And though the darkness took her from this world, her light still shines in ours. Always and forever.

We are honored to walk in memory of Shyla Rae.