About The B.E. Resilient Foundation | Our Story

The B.E. Resilient Foundation was born from the life, strength, and enduring spirit of my sister, and from the community that rose around her when it mattered most.

She was forty-six when she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. One day she was home with her husband and son; three days later, she was in surgery, waking to an ostomy bag and a world forever changed. In the weeks that followed, she began chemotherapy every other week — a rhythm that would continue for nearly two years.

And yet, through all of it, her sense of self never disappeared. She refused to let a diagnosis define her. She didn’t want to know the stage — not from denial, but from a deep and unwavering belief in her own capacity to heal, to endure, to live fully in the present moment.

She tended her garden. She raised chickens and gathered fresh eggs. She cooked for her family, cared for and homeschooled her autistic son, and stood beside her husband — all while navigating relentless pain, neuropathy, nausea, and profound physical loss. She lost much of her hair, something she had always loved, but she never lost her spark. She lived in color, in motion, and in love.

As her physical world grew smaller, her community made it bigger again. Friends, neighbors, and even strangers stepped forward — bringing meals, offering financial support, giving their time and care. In those moments, I witnessed something extraordinary: resilience does not exist in isolation. It deepens when it is shared.

A crowdfunding campaign helped ease the weight of mounting medical bills and daily expenses when the road felt impossibly heavy. A meal-support effort ensured nourishment arrived when energy was scarce. These gestures were more than acts of assistance — they were quiet declarations that she was not alone, and neither was her family.

The B.E. Resilient Foundation exists in her honor — to carry forward her courage, her tenderness, and her belief that even in the hardest seasons, strength can take root, and kindness can change everything.

Brooke — mother, wife, sister, friend, deeply loved and always present.

1977–2025