My mother, an avid Post reader when I was growing up in Brooklyn, occasionally would read a tragic story of a life cut too short. She would say to me and my sisters, “No parent should ever have to bury a child.’’
We were barely teenagers at the time, the concept of death foreign to us. We were invincible.
Years later, just out of college, a friend was killed in a car accident. The first thought that entered my mind upon hearing the news was not about my friend but her parents. I heard my mom’s words, “No parent should bury a child.”
It was a concept I could begin to appreciate but still not feel in my soul. Then I became a parent and suddenly it all made sense. What if, God forbid, this precious son of mine was taken from me? How would I go on? Could I go on?
Jim Malone and Neil Mulhall have found an answer to those questions. Malone lost two daughters, Paige and Jamie, and Mulhall lost his son, Michael, on July 15, 2010, in a car crash on the Meadowbrook Parkway. The kids were on their way to their summer jobs at Camp ANCHOR, a camp for the mentally and physically handicapped.
This wasn’t the senseless story of three foolish kids getting stoned or drunk and going for a joy ride. These were three young adults who had grown into smart, compassionate souls.
Those who work at Camp ANCHOR do not get paid for the first three years. They do it because they care. They do it because they want to make a difference. They do it because they appreciate all the blessings. Is there a more eloquent expression of grace?
“It was a labor of love for these kids,’’ said Malone, the basketball coach at Beach Channel High School. “It was a big chunk of their lives. They were compassionate kids. When they saw the smile on some of the kids’ faces they worked with, it made them smile. They were what every parent hopes their child will grow up to be.’’
Jamie, who was 22, Paige, who was 20, and Michael, also 22, will not grow older, but their message of love and compassion continues to grow.
Tomorrow at Adelphi University, the 2nd Annual Malone Mulhall Benefit Basketball Game will be held. Former St. John’s star Chris Mullin will coach one squad, comprised of present and former local college basketball stars. The voice of the Knicks, Mike Breen, will coach the opposing squad. Based on basketball skill, Mullin’s team is a prohibitive favorite, but that’s another story.
The real story, the only story, is local players such as former North Carolina star Danny Green, Iona’s Scott Machado, Justin Burrell and Paris Horne of St. John’s and many others generously decided to give their time so the legacy of three good young people will live on. Tickets for the 1 p.m. game are $15 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under. The proceeds will be split between the two families.
The Mulhall Family created the Michael Mulhall Memorial Scholarship Fund. He had just graduated from Scranton University and was looking to work in the field of special education. The hope is one day soon, the Mulhalls will be able to present a college scholarship to a young man or woman who has the same ideals as Michael did.
The Malone Family created the Jamie and Paige Malone Foundation to help charities that focus on special-needs individuals. There have been real rewards stemming from this tragedy.
“It makes me realize I’m not alone,’’ Neil Mulhall said. “The loss of Michael, Jamie and Paige is not something the two families have to bear alone. There’s a whole community that has come together. No parent should have to go through this and it will never bring our children back, but they won’t be forgotten.’’
No, Jamie and Paige and Michael won’t be forgotten. Neither will their families. No parent should have to bury a child, but you can help make something good come from this tragedy. It’s what Jamie and Paige and Michael would have wanted.