Charity

When my husband passed away I decided I wanted to do something to honor his memory, to create a legacy. And finally that wish is coming true. Last week I created a foundation Breathing for Jared. On Friday it officially became a 501 3 C and today I received our official tax exempt status. The goal of the Foundation is to raise scholarship funds for people with chronic lung disease to go to college. My husband was able to go to college because of such a scholarship and I can't think of a better way to honor him than to pay it forward.

Tonight, my 11 year old son front me money from his piggy bank and said this is for Breathing for Jared. He said I want to make the first donation and honor of my dad.  There are no words to describe the emotions I feel because of sweet, generous gift. How wonderful that my sweet little boy wants to donate his own money in honor of his dad. This little boy has been such a blessing to me.

My husband and I were told we would never have children and by the grace of God and the miracles of modern science we were able to have our son. Our family was always a unit 3. We did everything together. We travel the world as a family. And now that my husband is gone, our family is now a unit of two. It's very obvious that Jared is missing. Our third member is gone. And he is never coming home. But his spirit will always be with us. He will still travel the world with us, he will just be traveling in our hearts instead of standing beside us.

My hope is the foundation in my husband's memory, Breathing for Jared will allow someone else to achieve their goals. To go on to graduate from college, get married, have a family of their own. To make their own family unit. I hope that our grief, our struggle, our journey will help someone else. If my journey helps just one person I will feel I did my best to honor my husband.

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