‘Doing this work has been incredibly healing. It’s a way to turn pain into purpose.’

Commack

“My son, Luke, passed away last October just two days shy of his third birthday. He was little, but he had such a beautiful appreciation for life. He was always laughing and smiling. He loved being outside and following his big sister around. He was such a happy, sweet, loving little boy.

“Luke had a heart condition called subaortic membrane stenosis, where scar tissue was growing around his aortic membrane. He was scheduled for a routine surgery to remove the scar tissue but unfortunately ran into complications. He passed so unexpectedly, and so unfairly. We wanted Luke to have the most peaceful resting place, but we were not prepared for the costs of the arrangements. On top of the overwhelming grief, we were burdened with these decisions and finances. We were incredibly grateful for the support we received from our family and friends, and we were able to place Luke in the most beautiful location, where he gets sunshine all day. We soon realized that child loss is real and happens often, and many families do not have this amount of support to give their child what they deserve.

I decided to focus my energy on helping other grieving families and to give back the same support we received.

“I decided to focus my energy on helping other grieving families and to give back the same support we received. A month after Luke passed, we started our nonprofit, Luke’s Purpose. Our mission is to provide financial support to families who have lost a child, including funeral costs, medical bills and mental health bills. Doing this work has been incredibly healing. It’s a way of turning pain into purpose. We’ve helped 10 families so far.

“Our goal is to pay for funerals in their entirety, so parents can focus on their grief and healing. I also started a blog called Good Grief Moms. I wanted to share my own grief journey and my experiences, and hopefully connect with other parents who unfortunately had to go through this unimaginable tragedy. We want to keep Luke’s memory alive. He only knew happiness and joy in his short life, and we want to share his light, and his love.”