Grieving Long Island siblings come up with program to help other families cope with loss
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. -- Turning tragedy into something good is the mission of young Long Island siblings who lost their mother two years ago.
As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported Thursday, they've created a unique program to help other families cope with loss.
It was a dark time for the Taylor family of Plainview.
"Even children being children, they understand that this is pretty serious," Stephen Taylor said.
His 50-year-old wife, Heidi, plagued with an auto immune disease, was in her final days. Her young children were summoned to her bedside.
"Some of the social workers had this idea. From another hospital they got materials from to make crafts and mementos, things to remember," Stephen Taylor said.
"It was kind of like warmth in this cold time," son Aidan Taylor said.
"We just, you know, couldn't get her better. This was at least way of helping the family cope with the inevitable," said Dr. Sienna Moran, who works in the ICU at Plainview Hospital.
Those painful memories have since been eased by small mementos the children created that mean the world -- their mother's palm prints and ceramic molds of their touching hands.
"Me and my mom always had this handshake. It was like a pinky swear thing. I always have that now," daughter Zoey Taylor said.
"This is all four of us. I know my mother is going to be with me forever. I can't lose her with this because I still have her with me," Aidan Taylor added.
Now, they're paying forward a kindness by raising thousands of dollars to supply crafts that make goodbye less painful not only to Plainview Hospital but also to other Northwell hospitals. They include a thumbprint in a locket and a mold of a pinky swear.
"You can literally feel the memories through it. You can feel the person," Aidan Taylor said.
It's something that silently speaks volumes.
"It helped us so much in this situation and now to hear it's helping other people is really a good feeling," Zoey Taylor said.
"It's such a visceral thing. I know everywhere we have a house, they will always be there," Stephen Taylor added.
Hospital staff thanked them for turning their darkest days into a legacy.
"For families, it's really a sense of comfort, something they can touch and hold when they can no longer do that with the person that they've lost," said Amanda Filipazzo, a patient experience specialist.
Heidi Taylor loved crafts. Her children think she'd approve of what they have done and continue to do.
"Her image and her name being spread like this would make her cry tears of joy," Aidan Taylor said.
To support Heidi's Helping Hands, please click here.
