Forever Remembering Jeremy

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It goes against the laws of nature to survive the death of a child, let alone two. Today we remember Jeremy 12 years later. With our magical thinking, we can still see his beautiful blue eyes, his dirty blond hair, his love for food -mostly his grandma’s recipes- and how cute he looked in his favorite boots. There are so many sounds engraved in our memory. We can still hear the stomping down the stairs when rushing down for dinner, the rattling in the kitchen when making his favorite brownies, and the sound of his car as it zoomed down the road. Most of all, his physical presence and the sound of his voice whispering, I love you, mom. I love you, dad, and hey, Sayra! is what is etched in our hearts forever.

Every April, on any given day, our emotions erupt like a volcano when you least expect it. For those that have lost children, it is an understatement to say that life has changed forever; or that you feel like you instantly aged 50 years in a single day. Not a day goes by without thinking and longing for our loved ones to come back home. The anniversary of death is not a celebration of life. For us, it is a very dark day that marks the unthinkable of what happened not only once but twice.
All we can do is remember with love, with tears, and the unavoidable pain that is forever present. We find strength in helping others in continuing with the mission of Jeremy’s foundation. We find strength when we receive letters and photos (see below) of young teens with smiles on their faces because they Experienced Hope. We find strength watching our newest beautiful grandson Theo as he grows and reminds us that we also Experienced Hope the day he was born!
As we do every year, we respectfully ask you to say a silent prayer for Jeremy today, Sunday, April 25th, on this 12th anniversary of eternal life. We do not grieve alone; therefore, we also pray for strength for the many families that have lost children and loved ones this past year. 
 
Peace, Love & Gratitude,
Ciri, Scott & Sayra

Robotics Club

At the end of last year, we partnered with Chicago Jesuit Academy (CJA) and provided sponsorships for CJA’s remote Robotics Club. Look at those smiles! 
 

Letter to JSRF from CJA Robotics Club:

“The Robotics co-curricular has come to an end, and I wanted to share with you some highlights of the season. One of our teams won the “Breakthrough Award,” recognizing significant advances in robot design and the Innovation Project throughout the season. I have included a screen shot captured during the virtual awards ceremony.
Our second team logged the highest table run score in CJA history, and finished in the top 10 in the table run portion of the competition.
 
Both teams demonstrated perseverance in completing all four table runs, with only seven other teams in the competition having done so.
 
There are, however, two things that I am even more proud of than these accomplishments.
 
First, for 10 of the 13 young men who participated in the season, this was their first year of Robotics, and they rose to the incredible challenge of learning to program while fully remote. In several cases, they were completely responsible for developing, executing and video recording the officially submitted table runs.
 
Secondly, for the three returning veterans (each with only one year of experience), their leadership and guidance were consistently recognized and praised by their peers throughout the season.
 
The successes of this season would not have been possible without your support. Your kindness and generosity enabled us to acquire additional kits and supplies necessary to allow our young men to discover and use their talents during this most unusual year. Thank you for believing in their great promise.”

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