Eldridge Toney is opening up about how he is staying close to his stepdaughters nearly two years after his late wife Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s death.

Toney tells PEOPLE that “the main thing that’s really kept me going” is his relationship with stepdaughters Kylee, 9 and Kaitlyn, 12, since Cardwell’s death from stage 4 adrenal carcinoma in December 2023.

“If I have any opportunity to kind of make their lives better, even if it’s just a little bit, I’m going to do my best to do that,” he shares. “Because I know that’s what Anna would have wanted. I’ve been in their lives for this long. There’s no point in me leaving just because Anna’s gone. Like I’m not, I’m not stepping out of the picture.”

“I want to be a part of their lives,” he continues. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I want to stay in their lives until I’m gone.”

No matter the distance, Toney is staying in touch with both Kyle and Kaitlyn.

Mama June Shannon gained custody of her granddaughter Kaitlyn in September 2024, while Kylee lives with her father Michael Cardwell in Alabama.

Toney says Mama June is “most definitely” open to him visiting Kaitlyn at her home, explaining, “They don’t keep me from Kaitlyn at all. I could call them up right now. And if I wanted to come over, I could just ride over or I could just show up. They don’t mind that at all.”

He adds: “There’s no strict stipulations or anything when it comes to seeing Kaitlyn or hanging out with her.”

While the family also keeps apprised of what’s happening with Kaitlyn, he says, “They keep me updated on everything that’s going on as far as schoolwork, how she’s behaving at the house, things like that… things she’s doing as far as like going to hang out with friends at the skating rink or even little drama she has with her friends.”

“They’ll fill me in on everything that’s going on with her,” he adds.

As for Kylee, he says he’s unable to see her as often as they’re now living far apart, but “whenever I call or when I talk to her, they don’t stop her from doing that.”

Toney says he is reminded of his late wife when spending time with the girls.

“Every time I see them, I feel like she would be so proud of [the] stuff they’ve accomplished and how they’re growing and just learning more every day,” he says.

Toney admits that he still thinks of Cardwell often, nearly two years after her death.

“I’ve been having better memories of everything because at first, everything was fresh,” he recalls. “All you think about and remember is just the cancer portion of it. But now that it’s been so long, you start remembering all the good times.”

When asked what he missed most about his late wife — who he quietly married in March 2023 — he says, “Just our conversations, just talking and just being in each other’s presence and just being there and just little silly things that we would talk about and joke around about and just spontaneous things that we would do.”

“Also, just random trips to…it could be to the grocery store or go get food or just take a random vacation. Just little times like that is what I miss.”