Yet Another Awful Amazing Day

Thursday May 30, 2024- Michael, Colin and I were announced at Greenfield High Schools Awards night to present our first award(s) for the McCarthy Brothers Bond Foundation. Mike rolled Colin to the center of the stage and I took my place at the podium- taking a moment to soak it all in and to also gain my composure- and then I began-

"Good Evening- Congratulations to the class of 2024. Tonight we are honored to be here to present the first awards from the McCarthy Brothers Bond Foundation to honor our two boys. We launched our foundation just over a month ago. Our other son, Shane, passed away six months ago today while at college due to acute bacterial meningitis. Shane was just 21 years old- he was in his junior year at the D'Amore McKim School of Business at Northeastern University in Boston. He had a very bright future ahead of him.

Tonight is our first opportunity to do good from an unimaginable tragedy. If you would like to learn more about our foundation and what our vision is- please visit www.mccarthybrothersbond.com, you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Tonight in recognition of our two boys we would like to present two awards to-

Petru Cojocoru and Addison Rotkiewicz.

We are grateful to all the submissions in our inaugural year so would also like to award the other six applicants.

Carly Blanchard, Joshua Ferrara, Ava Fortin, Conner Johnson, Oliver Postera and Lydia Wood.

In parting I encourage everyone here to be like Shane was-

Be kind to others- even if they look different than you

Check on the people you care about regularly - not by text but with a call or in person

and above all

Love unconditionally"

I have to say I was a little surprised by the hugs from the kids that did not know us- but they were very much appreciated!

Once we had made our exit out of the auditorium the tears flowed. Tears of gratitude that in such a short amount of time we were able to even do this. Tears of sadness that we even had a reason to do it. To think that SIX months have passed already and that yet it had only been six months. The inner struggle with reality- it seems like only yesterday that Shane was home on Thanksgiving break. Then on the other hand it has been the longest six months of my life with each month seeming to have 100s of days in them. The daily ache in my heart is the reality check that our lives are forever changed.

Back to our awards!

Part of the submission process was to include an essay sharing information about their siblings and how their family dynamic has shaped them into the person they are today. I think that the role Colin had played in Shane's life had much to do with his character, his ambition, his drive and certainly his empathy. In the rose colored glasses world I like to live in I expected to read of sunshine and roses, playing catch and pillow fights, leaning on one another and learning from each other. That was certainly not the case among many of the applicants. Instead I read of the young man immigrating to the US with his two sisters at the age of 4 with zero English who now aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon. Another applicant who wrote of being separated from her half sister due to her mothers addictions. Another applicant that has 4 siblings- well half siblings but he did not see it that way- he and one of his brothers would be raised by his grandparents due to "a mess of complicated circumstances."

There were some of those warm fuzzy essays I had hoped for too- the young lady that volunteers with her Dad and two sisters at Mount Snows adaptive ski program. Another young lady that wrote of the two scars she has from her sisters- accidents that were all in good fun. Another essay from a young man that was an only child until his mother remarried who has a little brother 15 years younger than him. Some words from his essay that really tugged at my heart strings "my brother has shown me that life is precious - he has shown me how to find joy in everything in life big or small- that I am allowed to be myself not to change or hide who I am for others. He means the world to me, and I want to be a good big brother for him for as long as I can, until the moment I leave. "

As I read them I realized what a great life we had been able to provide to our two boys- bumps along the way for sure. But a solid foundation and always a house full of love.

So to put an end to my rambling- yesterday was indeed another one of those awful amazing days.

Check back soon as I will update the projects page to tell you more about our award recipients.