Influencer Melissa Mae Carlton and her husband, Tom Carlton, are mourning the death of their youngest daughter, Molly.
“On Christmas morning, our sweet Molly girl, and her big sister Abi were reunited 💔,” Melissa wrote via Instagram on Friday, December 26, referring to daughter Abigail’s 2024 death. “This is the only thing giving me even a small sense of comfort. Molly missed her sister so deeply. She would often ask me, ‘Mummy, when is Jesus coming back so Abi can come down?’”
Abi died in April 2024 after battling sepsis at 9 years old. Melissa and Tom, however, have not publicly shared Molly’s cause of death or age.
“We are devastated. In disbelief. Confused and in shock,” Melissa wrote on Friday. “We are exhausted and shaken after a day filled with trauma and heartbreak. I feel numb. I cannot yet accept that this is real. I am not ready for this pain.”
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Melissa also shared photos of herself and Tom cradling Molly from a hospital bed.
“We are overwhelmed by how many of you prayed with us and for her yesterday. I am asking, with all my heart, that those prayers do not stop,” the influencer wrote in her lengthy statement. “In the days and weeks ahead, there will be so much to do and to organize, and we will need strength beyond our own. “I am scared of what life looks like now for us. I am heartbroken for our children.”
Melissa and Tom also share son Harry and daughter Lily.
“Last night, through tears, Harry told me that when we boarded the plane to Arizona on Monday, Molly leaned over and told him she wanted to be with Abi,” Melissa concluded on Friday. “Through sobs, he said, ‘She got what she wanted.’ 💔Please hold our family in your prayers as we try to take this one very small step at a time.”
Melissa, who runs a faith-inspired art shop and whose Instagram has 80,000 followers, has previously been candid about grieving Abi’s death.
“I wish I could always be the strong, inspirational one on your feed, but I can’t,” Melissa wrote via Instagram last month, sharing throwback home movies of Abi. “The truth is, it really, really sucks. I hate it. I miss her so much. It’s ‘supposed’ to be the happiest time of year, but it just hurts. This is our second Christmas without her, and while I’ve been running on a lot of spiritual morphine, my body is finally catching up to the reality and permanence of it all. I still can’t believe this happened. I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
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Melissa later revealed that she didn’t want an “aesthetic Christmas” celebration.
“One thing child loss has taught me is that I’m done wanting my house to feel like a show home. I want it cozy. Lived in. With clear evidence that children live here,” she wrote via Instagram on December 11. “I regret ever having two Christmas trees. One for us and one for the kids. From now on, the tree is the kids’ tree. All of their ornaments. Everything they’ve made for it.”
Melissa further revealed that she, Tom and their children made “Abi angels,” hung childhood ornaments on their Christmas tree and even framed one of Abi’s holiday pajamas for the wall.
“This is what Christmas looks like now ❤️🕊️,” Melissa concluded at the time.
