Lots to say tonight....

I've got so much to update. I really need to get back into doing weekly updates so I don't worry that I've missed something. The last 15 days have been a constant flurry of activity. My sister flew in from Oregon and my dad and stepmom came from NC for the girls 2nd birthday and Christmas. Like most milestones and "firsts" in this first year since Zoe's death, the anticipation of the holidays and birthday were worse than the days themselves...kind of.

We decided on a Disney Princess theme for the big birthday party. Back when the girls were in the NICU their very first baby dolls were these tiny Baby Disney Princesses...Snow White for Zoe, Belle for Avery, and Cinderella for Lily. Last Halloween I spent way too much money on some pretty cheap costumes for the girls so they could be Disney Princesses for their first Halloween. Well the costumes swallowed them last year and Avery and Lily still fit in theirs this year. My mom, being a master seamstress, offered to "fancy" up the dresses and make them more princess like. She did a fabulous job! It was fun picking out the embellishments with her and the girls truly looked like miniature princesses.

We kept the party small, just our parents, sisters, niece, nephew, Richard's grandmother, and a very close family friend. We still can't have a little kid party for fear of RSV and other nasty infections...but the girls don't know this yet so they were quite content to be the center of everyone's attention. Because we didn't have other little kids, Richard, with the help of my dad, prepared a gourmet meal for us...seafood gratin, beef tenderloin, braised greens, and roasted root vegetables! Not bad considering they did all of the work and I didn't even have to clean up!

I was feeling pretty antsy in the morning so I was able to get out by myself for a couple of hours before the party to get balloons and other last minute items. This proved to be the best thing I could have done because it gave me the opportunity to yell 'til my throat hurt and cry 'til my eyes stung. I screamed in my car by myself and it felt sooooo good! Just to let it out...that deep, deep sorrow just poured out of me for about 20 minutes and then I was done. I drove back home and I can honestly say that I enjoyed the party.

We planned a little project for everyone to participate in to honor Zoe. Richard read in "Swallowed by a Snake" about various rituals that families do to honor their deceased loved ones on important anniversaries. One was to plant a tree and decorate it with things that are natural bird feeders. We didn't plant a tree because we hope to be moving soon so we chose to decorate the enormous pink Camelia that sits right outside the nursery window. It blooms these gorgeous pink blossoms all over...usually in February/March. We spread pine cones with peanut butter and rolled them in birdseed, tied a string to one end and hung them on the tree. We also made garlands out of popcorn, cranberries, and grapes. And we cut Christmas shapes out of pieces of bread, poked a hole through the top and tied a string to hang these as well. It was nice to do a project like this as a group and it also looked really pretty when we were done. We felt like we were feeding life through honoring the life of our little girl.

After we decorated (Avery and Lily helped too) the girls played in their playhouse and slide in the back of the house. When we were coming back towards the front of the house to go back inside, we walked by the camelia and tucked in the back of the tree was one perfect pink blossom. We had not even seen it when we were hanging the decorations, but there it was. I started crying because I just knew this flower was a sign from Zoe....there are no other blossoms anywhere else. And this blossom has since died. The tree is covered in buds, but they're still closed up pretty tight. I felt like Zoe was giving us her seal of approval for our natural bird feeders and also letting me know that she was right there with us.

The rest of the party went really well, the dinner was awesome, and girls liked opening their gifts. We had these beautiful princess cakes that were made by this cake artist in Smyrna. She made three little cakes that looked like silk pillows...one had a crown on top, one had a "glass" slipper on top, and the third had a beautiful lavender rose. Make sure to take a look at the photos as soon as I get the slideshow posted. The cakes were amazing! We turned off the lights, lit the candles and sang...Avery and Lily were sitting so still and seemed really happy that everyone was singing to them. Then they squinted their eyes tight and blew out the candles. The lights went back on and Avery said "yights off. yight candles. sing a-gain." It was so cute! We all laughed and of course obliged. (A couple days later we had a Hanukkah dinner with my dad in which Avery wanted to blow out the candles...a little hard to comprehend why she can blow out some candles, but not others.) Last year the girls were just starting to eat solids so they didn't do the "normal" dive into the cake and get it all over themselves. Well this year they sure made up for last year. Avery asked for "Mo birday cake...mo birday cake". She even signed "please, please".

By the time everyone went to bed Richard and I were spent. We snuggled up in the family room and stared at our "Zoe shrine" and cried. We both just wonder what she'd look like now...how long her hair would be, how curly. She would have been beautiful in her Snow White gown with those glittering green eyes. I can only imagine...that's all we've got is our imagination of what things might be like with her here instead of in Heaven. I have faith that she is where she needs to be, that she is whole and perfect, and happier than I can comprehend...but it doesn't mean I don't still long to have her here with us. I will always wish she was here, instead of there.

So that was December 20th...we still had Christmas coming up. We had a very nice visit with my dad and stepmom and even drove to see "the lights" at Lake Lanier. Much to my disappointment the girls fell asleep before we even got there....I didn't factor in the 2 hour long wait in traffic we'd have to get to the entrance. Oh well, I liked driving through and seeing them myself; next year I'll plan to leave earlier so the girls can enjoy them too.

Christmas Eve was pretty hard for me. Nothing specific triggered the sadness, I was just sad. I just missed Zoe, just simply wanted her with us...just that simple. It's been hard each day since then too. No specific triggers, just missing her. And also knowing that the one year anniversary is less than two months away. In some ways I can't believe so many days and months have passed already and it makes me more sad that it's been that much longer since I last held her. In other ways it still seems like it happened a minute ago. Her last 24 hours are etched into my brain and I imagine they always will be. I've still been trying to remember the good things...and still longing for signs from her or maybe dreams about her. I was napping with Avery and Lily a few days ago...Avery was snuggled up to my back, hands fully entwined in my hair, Lily was snuggled in the front...and as I started to drift off I distinctly felt a weight on my shoulder...but it wasn't either Lily or Avery. I said "Hi Zoe, I'm so glad you're here" and that weight stayed on my shoulder for a while. When I woke up it was gone. But it made me smile just the same.

So...back to Christmas...Gampa had to leave early Christmas morning to pick up Gama Birdie at the airport so surprisingly it was just the four of us on Christmas morning. My mom and sister came later in the morning and we literally spent the entire day opening presents. These girls were completely showered...no I'd say avalanched...with gifts and of course wanted to play with things as soon as they were opened so it took a while. We even still had a few things to open the day after Christmas. It was two days after Christmas when Avery woke up one morning and said "open presents"...little does she know that we have one more Christmas to do this weekend with Richard's mom! Sheesh! It's a little rough having a birthday on top of Christmas...it would be nice if they were spread out a little. I had to use some of their birthday money to buy another shelf unit and bins to organize and put away their stuff...and we got rid of two garbage bags full of baby toys they don't even play with anymore. I am thankful, don't read that I'm not...it's just a little overwhelming, for them and for us.

The day after Christmas we got a very exciting letter in the mail from the IRS (how often have you said that before?) The Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation has gotten the 501 (c )(3) approval for tax exemption. We are officially official! Our website and logo are currently being designed and we hope to have phase 1 of the website up in early 2009. I want to thank everyone who sent donations at holiday time. We truly appreciate your generosity and that you would think of us at this time of year. I also have to send a huge thank you out to my Board members who take their positions on this Board very seriously and share the passion Richard and I have with making this organization a legitimate, worthwhile, productive, and effective source of support and resources for all parents of micro-preemies. You guys are awesome!!! I love you and am very excited for the coming year. Working on this Foundation is very cathartic for me. Just when I'm missing Zoe the most and asking those unanswerable questions the most, we'll have a Board meeting or I'll talk to my committee members about the website, and I just get totally re-energized. Having a purpose that is entwined with Zoe's life makes me feel like I'm doing something right in this world. So, here's to 2009...I don't know what's in store...but I'm willing to face it.

How time flies....

Two years ago today I was admitted to the hospital with preeclampsia. Initially my perinatologist told me they just wanted to watch me over the weekend. Instead, I ended up giving birth to the girls 5 days later. Avery, Lily, and Zoe entered the world at 7:03, 7:04, and 7:05 am on December 20th. Their combined birth weight was only 4 pounds 4 ounces! If you read back to the following post from December 2007 you can read my account of those days leading up to and soon after their birth.

Here I stand 2 years later...two years! How does that much time go by so quickly? I never thought the NICU would feel just like a long, bad dream...but it actually kind of does. I thought I would remember each and every one of those days (121 for Avery and Lily, 291 for Zoe). I do remember a lot...there are some experiences that are so traumatic and so emotionally charged that you can't possibly forget them. I remember a lot of the good things from those days: first time holding each of the girls, first time Zoe was taken off the oscillator, then the vent, then cpap; when each of the girls moved to the step down nursery, the first time we got to bathe each girl and touch them for more than just a diaper change...there are lots of good memories. And there are a lot of not so good memories, the hard and challenging parts of living in the NICU, being scared to call the nurses to check on the girls out of fear of what they may say, the hospital administration that kept Zoe's hearing impairment teacher from coming into the hospital, the times the girls were so sick we didn't know if they'd live another night. And I of course remember the discharge days...those were magical, emotional, almost out of body experiences. Such elation at actually bringing the little girls home...both times it was just incredible.

So here we are two years later, we've got two amazing little girls with us here and one beautiful angel watching over us. 2008 has been difficult...losing Zoe has been by far the greatest tragedy to hit our family. I thought their premature birth and the following months were the worst...but Richard and I have been down to the deepest lows in the last 10 months...I personally have been in such dark places I didn't know if I'd ever feel "like myself" again or if I even cared to. What has kept us going, and kept me going is our faith in God, our innate desire to honor our daughter who died way too soon, and the laughter and joy that is brought into our home daily by Avery and Lily. Their personalities have emerged in such beautiful ways this year. I know I am often guilty of speaking about them as a unit, as one, as opposed to the separate and unique little girls that they are. So I'd like to spend a little time on each girl individually.

My sweet Lily...so petite still, such sparkly blue eyes and rosy cheeks. Her hair is thick and straight and almost reaches her shoulders already! It often seems that Lily picks up things only after Avery does...but that isn't always the case. The difference is that Lily doesn't always require the approval and attention of us when she learns something new. Don't get me wrong...she is a performer! She loves music and dancing...almost any kind of music will get her little hips swaying and her tush shakin'...from classical to African drums to Allison Krauss and Tom Petty. Lily loves playing her flute, the piano, and the little guitar at Mimi's house. She has a huge heart for animals, she always wants to lay down with Abby (our 13 year old pug) and wants to pat her and help feed her; she loves seeing any other dog or kicky kack (kitty cat) that we come across; she tells you when she hears birds chirping; likes to look for piduhs (spiders) and yaby bugs (lady bugs)...and she has a special affinity for camels and monkeys. Lily also loves her baby dolls, she will lovingly lay them down put a blanket over them, give them a paci and a bottle and say night-night. She'll even pick them up and burp them. Lily has a lot of energy and loves to climb and run and ride her rocking horse like she's Annie Oakley. She also likes to climb up on top of the pillows piled on the bed and jump off backwards! She'll wave to Zoe's picture and say "watch Yo-ee" and then there she goes. When you ask her what she's doing she'll tell you she's being a "dare debil" (dare devil). Lily loves being outside, she'd stay outside all day long if we let her and once she's out you had better keep an eye on her 'cause she's fast and she's always on the move. She also loves the water. She didn't necessarily like the swimming lessons I put them in this Spring, but she can float, roll over with her face in the water and roll back over to her back. She loves to splash and kick and "yay back" (lay back) in the bathtub and she loves the handshower to be turned on so she can take a shower like Daddy. Lily has the most infectious laugh you've ever heard...the kind that should be recorded and used in commercials or movies and you are sure to get a good laugh when Daddy tickles her with his beard...she loves this about as much as she loves being chased around the kitchen. She'll say "mada do eet, cwall, kicky kack" which translates to "mama do it, crawl around like a kitty cat and chase me". I never believed that this little girl would eat "normally" because she had such feeding problems as an infant, but now she'll each rice, chicken nuggets, and broccoli by the pound and drink her weight in milkshakes and let me tell you...this girl loves cookies and m&m's. Avery tends to be the one that wants you to notice when she does something for the first time...and is often the first one to say a word or sing a song...because of this there is a tendency for people to ask Avery to say or do something and not always Lily...but Lily is always paying attention and she'll be over on the other side of the playroom with her baby doll or her book and you'll hear her say or sing whatever you're asking Avery to do. It's like she's saying "Yeah, big deal, I can do it too." She's a very proficient signer and still uses many of the signs she's learned even though she can say the words too. Lily is very social, she's always the first to warm up to a new person and will usually flash that precious smile within a few minutes. She is also a little sneaky...she's quite the paci thief and poor Avery will be all snuggled in about to go to sleep and then Lily who you think is sleepy too, will sit up, and slowly reach over until she gets right to Avery and snatch the paci out of her mouth. Most times Avery doesn't care, unless it's bedtime and she's sleepy. She's cute too, when she gives something to you ...like a piece of garbage to throw away, or a chewed up raisin she doesn't want to swallow...she'll say "kack you" (thank you)...so polite! Avery did something for her today and she signed thank you and said "kack you Awee, kack you." Such good manners for such a little girl! Sometimes I look at Lily in disbelief that she's my daughter...I just can't believe that I actually had anything to do with creating such a beautiful, happy, compassionate, and loving little girl.

Avery is a little less high energy than Lily. She'll want to sit right next to you, hand twirled in your hair, and just snuggle. She usually has to be touching some part of me and more than likely wants to be picked up so she can entwine her hands in my hair. Don't get me wrong, she likes to run around and play and scream just as much as Lily...but she likes her downtime too. She loves to read books and also likes music and dancing. She loves to show off new things she learns like when she learned how to "skip" and "jump" and "twirl". She loves to sing songs and will often just break out into song at any point. She's so cute singing the first 3 or 4 words of a song..right now it's usually "fosty snowman" or "sanka caus comin' to town". Avery also has this incredible memory. We'll have a Baby Einstein movie on and if you've watched one or two or a thousand of these, you know that with each segment they play a new song instrumentally...she can pick out what the song is and sing the words even though there are no words sung in the movie. She also knows exactly when the song is about to come on by remembering what comes right before it. The other day we took the girls on a drive south of Atlanta and walked around and got a quick bite to eat. We walked on a trail and saw our first waterfall and we met a couple of dogs along the way. Later that night Richard was sitting with her and she recounted the entire day, in order, in two or three word phrases...oh and did I mention she counted to 13 (she skipped 11) but still! She did it without prompting, she was just sitting in the playroom with this great little wooden toy with five pegs and different shaped rings to put on each peg. As she put a shape on the peg she counted. I did not witness this event but Richard did and was calling for me to come see. Since then she's done it around me, but hardly ever if you ask her to. Avery does not miss a thing. I remember when the girls were infants Lily would fuss a bit more than Avery and I always worried that Avery would be neglected because Lily was always getting picked up...but I think that's just part of her personality, she's an observer. She's also a little cautious, she waits for Lily to "approve" of a new person before she'll venture over and when she tastes something for the first time she'll barely touch her tongue to it, that is pretty funny to watch. Avery, like Lily, loves being outside. She loves to climb and slide and dig in the dirt. She loves the water and can float like Lily and also roll over and swim underwater and then roll back over to float. She didn't care too much for the ocean and the sand, but loves the pool and the bathtub. She's got olive skin and chocolate brown eyes. Her hair is finer than Lily's and has some curl to it in the back so it's growing a bit slower than Lily or Zoe's did. She loves the people she's most comfortable with...whenever Namo, Mimi, or Alice come over she'll scream and wave her arms and stomp around in a circle, it's like her welcome dance or something...so cute and sure makes the receiver pretty happy. She saw Mimi walking across the yard headed to the door and Avery says to me "mada, open da door, wight now, open da door" then she stands next to the door and sayd "it Awee" telling Mimi (who is on the other side of the door) that she's on the other side waiting for her...she wanted me to let Mimi in immediately! She can be pretty stubborn and demanding (I can't imagine where she got these qualities from!) but she's also so sweet, so cuddly, and has a cute little sense of humor. They both will sometimes say something and I can't figure out what it is so I'll just repeat what they say to me and they'll both just crack up laughing like they've got some inside joke going on. It's funny, she's only one minute older than Lily and yet she'll act like the big sister. Taking care of her, sharing her milk. She's so kind, so sweet, and again I'm just amazed that she's mine!

It is safe to say that all three girls love eachother very much. If Lily wakes up before Avery and I take her out of the nursery, in about five minutes she's saying "Awee, mada get her, Awee". Both Avery and Lily talk to Zoe, wave to her pictures, share their snacks with her, ask her to watch them when they do something for the first time and blow her kisses. When Zoe was here she always kept one if not both eyes on her sisters, she wanted to be in on what they were doing and was very much a part of every second. I like to think that she's up in Heaven, doing the same thing...just in a different way.

Zoe, will always be my sweet little warrior princes, I will never know why I was chosen to be the mother of an angel on Earth. And I never, ever thought that once we got home from the NICU that I'd have such limited time with her. I honestly thought the worst was behind us, that she couldn't possibly get sick enough to die once she got home. She was so strong...so courageous, so calm, so happy. You can't possibly measure the ability she had to love and to share this love and her laughter with everyone. Her green eyes just sparkled. Even when she was teeny tiny in the NICU, nurses, RTs, and even others who saw her photos would comment on how deep she'd look at you with her eyes. More than one person would say they felt she could see deep into your soul with those eyes. She was so laid back, rarely fussed and if she was tired, she'd just lay down and take a little cat nap wherever she was...but more often than not she wanted in on the action. I remember taking her to our sessions with Linda at the Speech School and sometimes Lily and Avery tagged along. They'd be on the other side of the room with Mimi, playing quietly (sort of) and Linda would be trying to get Zoe to locate specific noises and sounds she was making when all Zoe would do is look for her sisters, especially if there was any boisterous laughter going on..she wanted to play! Once she could sit up without refluxing the whole world opened up to her...she could play with so many toys, she loved the little play table and piano and she had this little ladybug that she always loved. I always think of Zoe when I see a ladybug. I will never forget the bedtime routine we had...Richard or I would get her bathed and tucked into bed, feeding hooked up and she'd often fall right to sleep. Then we'd give Avery and Lily their last bottle and put them down. I'd go back to Zoe and she'd be awake again, it's like she knew I wasn't distracted by her sisters and could spend a little one on one time with her. I'd lay down on the bed next her co-sleeper so that our cheeks would touch and I'd sing to her...I always sang the same four songs and then I'd hum them (Hush, Little Baby...Brahms Lullaby...Silent Night...and Amazing Grace) Usually by the time I sang all four and hummed two of them she'd be asleep. She'd just be sucking on her paci, both hands up at her mouth, sleeping so sweetly. I always loved how Zoe woke me up each morning...she'd kick her right leg and make this "huh, huh, huh" sound in her sweet little husky voice and when I rolled over or opened my eyes she'd squeal and smile. What a beautiful way to wake up! I would give anything to wake up like that again. It's been said over and over how many people Zoe touched during her short 14 months and continues to touch and it still amazes me...there are moments that people still write to me about, even now, that they call their Zoe moments when they feel they've been given a message from her or had some experience where they are sure it was her or her spirit speaking to them. I love hearing about these moments. I long for more of my own. Hopefully as I walk along this long, long road of grief I'll begin to relax, my body will loosen and therefore my heart and my mind so that I can receive the messages she's probably been sending me all along. I do have moments here and there that I think are Zoe moments but sometimes I'm not sure if I just want it to be her so badly that I convince myself it is...or maybe it really is her.

When the girls were in the NICU we had to learn how to love and bond with our babies before we could even hold them...we had to learn that love is felt even when a physical bond has not yet formed. I feel like we've had to go back to this understanding with Zoe. That even though she's not here in body to be held and kissed, we can and will continue to love her and feel her with us. I also remember during the NICU days questioning whether I loved the girls enough because I hadn't had that first moment of holding my own babies and had heard all kinds of stories about how wonderful that moment is (usually right after birth) I didn't have some euphoric experience after birth...my emotions were mostly fear, fear that I wouldn't take any of them home with me. I finally know there is no question that I love my girls more than anything, that the depth of my love for them can not begin to be explained or quantified. There is no symbol or act that could ever truly encapsulate the enormity of my love for these three precious angels.

Lily, Avery, and Zoe...you are my life, my heart, my love forever and ever! Happy Birthday!

I thought I'd make a little that was then, this is now photo display:

a dress that went down to their knees...then and now

a hat...then and now

the diaper on the right swallowed them at birth, now they're in size 4

these are Lily's footprints at birth...usually those cards are big enough for only ONE foot

Zoe Rose above at birth, below at 13 months old

Lily Anne above at birth, below at 23 months

Avery Ruth above at birth, below at 23 months

A family in need

A family, whose mother is in my same-age triplets and more group, suffered a devastating tragedy this week. While their two year old triplets napped in their cribs a fire broke out. The fire was discovered by the nanny, 911 responded and the children, thankfully, were rescued from their cribs. All three are still in the hospital, the last I heard they were still intubated and sedated and had suffered severe smoke inhalation. Their prognosis is good, from what I hear. Their father was also injured in the fire. This family has lost everything, absolutely everything. I've copied a post from a fellow triplet mom who belongs to the same local multiples club as this family. There are several ways to help and I encourage everyone who is able to do so.

As Karen said in her email to me earlier, the response from the triplet/multiples community at large has been overwhelming. Showing yet again, what an amazing group of people our multiples community truly is. As Karen said in her post, we're a close knit bunch, no matter the geographical distance that separates us, and it seems that if you don't know the family personally, chances are you aren't too far removed. I am so proud to be a part of this community, it continues to restore and encourage my faith.

Karen's latest post is below:

Hopefully the Final Update on How to Help the Petrucelli Family
I know things keep changing on how to help the Petrucelli Family, but this is hopefully the Final Word. Now we have some permanent mechanisms in place and this should make things far more efficient. Below is the email that we've sent out. Many of you have asked me if you can circulate this information to your own mom's groups or multiples groups. Please do. If you would like the non-redacted version to send out, please leave a comment and I'll send it to you.
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Thank you to everyone for your overwhelming response, concern, and shows of support for the Petrucellis in this time of great need. We have been astounded by the incredible response that we have received from the community in such a short period of time and genuinely appreciate all the offers of help, donations, financial support, and your prayers.

We know that it has been confusing that things have changed several times regarding logistics of donations - unfortunately, we had no way of anticipating how quickly and dramatically the community would respond. We never imagined such a widespread response in such a short period of time. We literally received offers of donations from all over the country in a matter of hours.

Right now, the most important thing for the Petrucellis is that they be able to focus on the recovery of their boys, who are still in the hospital. Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are all with them in this time of great need.

We now have established a system which we believe will remain a permanent system for both financial donations and for offers of physical goods. Please refer to this email for all future donations and see the FAQ's below for any questions.

FINANCIAL DONATIONS:
For financial donations to the Petrucelli Family, the Petrucelli Relief Fund has been established, and donations may be made online via the following website: http://petrucellirelieffund.com

DONATIONS OF GOODS:
All offers of donations of goods should be emailed to Doug Davenport at ddavenport@dcigroup.com and he will keep a running inventory of what has been offered. When the family is ready, they will be able to determine what they most need and can use from this inventory.

FAQ's

What if I have already donated money through the Petrucelli Family Fund established by the Montgomery County Parents of Multiples?
No problem. Your donation is very much appreciated and will still be given directly to the family to assist with their needs. The Petrucelli Family Fund will still be used for funds for the Petrucelli family. However, the primary source of relief funding from this point forward should be the Petrucelli Relief Fund, which can be accessed via http://petrucellirelieffund.com

What if I have already dropped off goods at Christie Leu's house? Similarly, what if I have already mailed donations to Karen Cohen's house?
This is not a problem. Your donations are definitely appreciated and will be accounted for. We will track these donations and ensure that Doug Davidson has a list of these items for his inventory. We will continue to store these items until we determine whether the Petrucelli's need these items. If your items are not needed at that time, your items will either be returned to you if you wish, or, if you prefer, donated to another worthy organization.

How do I know what the Petrucelli's need? How will I know what to offer Doug Davenport?
For now, assume that the Petrucelli's will need most of their basic household items replaced in the long term, especially things for the children. Once the family has had some time to regroup and the boys have had some time to recover, the family will be able to determine what their specific needs are and perhaps post a "wish list" of specific items they are looking for.

What size clothes do the boys wear?
Two of the boys wear size 4T clothes, and one boy wears 3T clothes. They are quite tall for their age.

What if I already mailed a gift card to Michelle Wizov or Karen Cohen?
This is not a problem. Michelle and Karen are tracking all of the gift cards and will make sure that they are delivered to Ami Susan and Michael as soon as possible. Your generous gifts are definitely appreciated.

I would still like to send a gift card. Who should I send it to?
You can send gift cards to either Michelle Wizov or Karen Cohen. Our contact information is below:

Please clearly mark your envelope "Petrucelli Relief" to ensure that it is properly accounted for, and please also ensure that your name and address are included with the gift card, so that the Petrucellis have the opportunity to thank you when they are able.


What if I have more questions about how I can help? Who can I contact?
If you have additional questions about any of the details in this email, or about how you can help, you can contact Michelle Wizov (michelle.wizov@gmail.com) or Karen Cohen (karen_cohen@comcast.net). We will do our best to respond with as much information as we have available at the time.