Monday, May 4, 2015

"For me, this keeps her alive."

Linda Briel and her husband Bob live in The Villages, FL., a retirement community with over 100,000 residents one hour north of Orlando. Their daughter Amy died in April, 2013, when she was only 44 years old. Amy loved music all her life, and was buried with her beloved silver trumpet. To help deal with grief, Linda does something positive on or around the anniversary of Amy's death. She wants other children to love music as much as Amy did. Last year, she donated $1,700 to Wildwood Middle and High School (near The Villages) to provide private music lessons for students who could not afford them.
Villages Elementary School of Lady Lake, FL.

This year, on the second anniversary of Amy's death, Linda saved $1,000 and donated it to the music department at Villages Elementary School of Lady Lake to replace the music department's 15-year-old wooden xylophones with new, more durable fiberglass instruments. Linda and Bob attend Lady Lake United Methodist Church, and when fellow-members heard of her plans, they took a collection and doubled her gift to $2,000.  "For me, this keeps Amy alive," said Linda. "I try to keep a positive spin on (April) and have something to smile about, rather than just being down in the dumps. We all have to pick ourselves up and keep going." Linda smiled through tears when she received a thank you card for her gift, signed by about 100 children.

No comments:

Post a Comment