Background

In April 2021, my late husband, Michael, started experiencing weakness in his left hand during his morning workouts in the makeshift, COVID-inspired garage gym at our townhome. At the time, our two sons were just two years old and five months old.

What we thought was carpal tunnel turned out to be a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. Mike lived 17 months with this horrible disease, and my children and I witnessed firsthand some of the very ugliest sides of cancer.

Throughout Mike’s illness, we were surrounded by an incredible outpouring of love and support. Doctors were a quick message away and our angel-nurses didn’t have to knock anymore.

But, after he passed away, I quickly learned that the support families receive during an illness often looks very different from the support they receive after a loss. As the phone calls slow down and life begins to move forward for everyone else, grieving families are left to navigate a new reality that can feel overwhelming, isolating, and uncertain.

For my boys and me, it has been the small moments of joy that have helped us continue to move forward. The generous experiences people gifted us after losing Mike encouraged us to get out of the house and step away from the heaviness of our everyday reality. They gave us reasons to smile, opportunities to reconnect, and the chance to create happy memories together in our new family dynamic.

Though our home life felt anything but normal, I was passionate about making sure my children could still experience the joys of being kids while they grieved. Those local experiences gave us a sense of renewal during our earliest days of grief. In fact, I found these small moments absolutely critical to our emotional well-being.

But over time, I also recognized that families navigating childhood grief need more than moments of joy. They need ongoing support, practical relief, guidance, and connection. Children need help understanding their grief in ways that make sense for their age, and caregivers need resources to support their children while navigating their own loss.

That realization is what inspired the growth of Small Moments Foundation. What began with a belief in the power of small moments has grown into a broader mission to support families after a cancer loss through JOY, RELIEF, CONNECTION, NAVIGATION, and EDUCATION. From creating meaningful experiences and easing everyday burdens to connecting families with our child life specialist and equipping the adults around grieving children with the tools to support them, we strive to meet families where they are and walk alongside them as they find their way forward.

While we can’t change what these families have been through, we can sure as heck help make sure they don’t have figure it out alone.