A Plan for the Future
Kristin has not yet used the support given to her by the Liz Logelin Foundation.
She is waiting, and she has found the rare freedom to wait, to let the grant’s use evolve with her own healing, is as much a gift as the grant itself.
Kristin, a fourth-grade teacher in Wisconsin, had initially thought she would put the support toward a trip to spread her husband’s ashes in Jamaica, as he had asked her to do. However, Kristin’s husband died unexpectedly when she was just eight weeks pregnant; she couldn’t take the trip immediately.
Soon after Marley was born, Kristin caught part of a TV program in which Matt Logelin was interviewed.
“You feel so alone being so young,” Kristin says, reflecting on her discovery of other young widows and widowers. “But there’s a lot of other people going through the same thing. If they can do it, you can do it.”
After receiving her grant, through her daughter’s first months, Kristin realized the gift could wait for a joint trip, to be taken when Marley is able to understand the place’s meaning.
Marley, now nine months old, is named for Bob Marley; many of Kristin’s favorite memories with her husband come from their trips to the island.
Kristin did go to Jamaica this past New Year, an individual sojourn, where she felt her first sense of calm since her husband’s death. But she will wait to use the grant until Marley is three — or four or five — allowing Kristin and her daughter to take the trip whenever they are both ready, regardless of their circumstances at that moment.
She will show Marley her dad’s favorite spots, places where Kristin spread his ashes, alone, and where she and her daughter will, together, make new memories.
The Liz Logelin Foundation’s unrestrictive policy, not dictating grant usage, allows for an evolution.
As Kristin says, the foundation only asks you “do something that brings you joy.”
In a healing process, sources of joy are ever-changing.Through the LLF’s philosophy and gift, Kristin discovered her joy in not only finding a peace, but also making a plan for the future.
Please consider making a gift today of $7, $15, $100 or even $500 or more to give families like Kristin and Marley’s the chance to find peace.
Share Kristin’s story with your friends and let them know why you support the LLF.
This weekend we have the first LLF event in LA and would LOVE to see all of the nearby supporters there. Please take a look at all of our upcoming events below so you can save the dates!
With gratitude,
Lindsay Lewis
Executive Director
Kristin’s story was written by Kate Erickson who lives and writes in NYC.