Tiffany Rene' Sapel
July 18, 1984 - November 7, 2020

Tiffany Rene Sapel was born July 18, 1984, and passed, tragically, from diabetic ketoacidosis on November 7, 2020. Throughout Tiffany's life, she held the simplest of values: basic survival, fierce devotion to her family, and absolute, uncompromising freedom. These values made her a beloved mother and sister, an adored daughter, a respected cousin and a cherished friend: She had a better BS meter than anyone who's walked this earth, almost as if she had x-ray vision into people's souls and deepest motivations. She was hilarious and most of the time used her humor to invite amazing fits of belly laughs. Occasionally she used it as a necessary slap in the face. Tiffany was wildly intelligent - easily able to detect problems, patterns, and solutions. She was the best goddamn customer service person you could imagine, able to deescalate the most ridiculous Karens and Kyles of the world. She was the most loyal of friends but didn't allow many to love her as fully. Tiffany's life burned bright, hot, and far too short. When living her best life, Tiffany was a novelist, an artist, a philosopher, and a comedian. When life brought her, instead, to her darkest days, she escaped through addiction and endured the decay that accompanies it. We can't know what Tiffany suffered. We can only acknowledge that she did. Because of her tremendous stubbornness, she was able to conquer addiction with relative ease after learning she was to become a mother. She finally found a reason to engage in life. The journey was longer than she anticipated, requiring focus, character, and learning to ask for help - something Tiffany found difficult and even dangerous. Yet, many times, what she could not do for herself she found the strength to learn to do for Ana. All of this was still a work in progress, a work that, tragically, she can not complete. At the end, Tiffany had a place of her own, days that revolved around Ana's care and her family, and goals for her writing, art, and work. For those of us left to say a premature and painful goodbye, Tiffany leaves an imperative: Love fiercely. Don't be a dick. Call out what isn't right. Be free. And always, rise for and gather around the children. Start with Ana, who will have to come to know her brilliant, beautiful mother through our stories and actions as time, inexplicably, goes on. Tiffany was preceded in death by her father, Russell Sapel. Tiffany leaves behind a devastated family including her mother, Ann Sapel, sisters Jenifer (Mel Fry III) & Tricia, step-mother Holly Sapel, brother Jordan Sapel, and daughter Ana Christenson. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her honor to The American Diabetes Association: https://www.diabetes.org/

Tributes