Tragically, my sister lost her life on the same day that my mother passed away. It’s unclear how we lost both of them last weekend.

I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love, support, and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.

My late mother, Patricia, was an opera singer and vocal coach. In 2010, she and I sang “O Come, All Ye Faithful” during an ABC Christmas special.

Our relationship was complicated, and I wrote about our tense dynamic in my 2020 memoir, *The Meaning of Mariah Carey*. I described our relationship as a “prickly rope” of “pride” and “pain.”

Emotionally and physically, it was safer for me not to have any contact with Patricia or my brother, Morgan, for a while. Like many aspects of my life, my journey with my mother has been full of contradictions and competing realities.

It’s never been only black-and-white — it’s been a whole rainbow of emotions. Despite the complexities, my mother and I seemingly patched up our bond over the years.

In 2010, we sang together on stage for ABC’s holiday special. As for my sister Alison, we also had a strained relationship.

I know that what she experienced damaged and derailed her girlhood. She absorbed the full pain of a family coming undone and brought home good grades, got into good schools, and loved music too.