Leona Mae Foundation

Leona Mae Foundation

Founded in 2011

by Dorraine Storm-Lugo and Marco Lugo

In 1994 I was making a crocheted baby bonnet or cap, for a gift for a friend so that she could give it to her friend at a baby shower, I was working on it, while visiting my mother on a two week trip back home to Belton, TX from WA state, where I had moved to only two months earlier... if only I had known my mom was going to be diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, hereditary by the way... I would have put off my move to another state, and cherished my last few months with my mother instead, but as it was a difficult thing... I had chosen WA state for moving our family to, in order to prevent an early death for my son, Christopher, who was literally dying before my very eyes, from uncontrollable Epilepsy.  

Anyways, on August 6th, my dad called me to tell me my mother was in the hospital, where they had just found and diagnosed her with small oat cell Lung Cancer, rapid growing type, which they had determined was a hereditary lung cancer she had lost her mom to when I was just a child, all too familiar with what her mother had gone through during her battle, which was over 11 years of my life, I was praying I would be as fortunate as that to be able to see my mother battle hers for a long while yet, but the next words out of my father's mouth devastated me, they give her 3 months to live at most with the treatments.  I instantly tried finding a way to come home to see her...and possibly stay with her, my trip was planned for 3-4 weeks, but even before I could make all my plans, my father called me back to tell me they found cancer in her bones, and tumors in her brain a few days later..... oh man, my life started a turn for the worse.

I got home to Texas, where everything was so different than it was when I left it.

My mother had lost almost 40 pounds, in just the two months  that had passed since we left Texas... she was just a shell of the person I knew as my Mother.... 

I was crocheting and we were talking about her losing her hair, and she told me... " My that sure is a pretty cap you are making, Dorraine", I looked up at her, and she was holding a small hand full of hair, she had a tear rolling down her cheek... "Maybe you should make some pretty hats for the lovely ladies that are losing their hair like I am...you can make such beautiful things, I am sure that your caps could make the ladies feel pretty when this cancer and treatments make them feel ugly".... I will never forget that.... 

Two days later, I was on a plane back to WA, where my Christopher and Rita were for the first time in their lives away from their Mom.  I instantly found a beautiful soft yarn, in Mama's favorite colors, she loved greens, emeralds and jades..... any shade really.... so I started fiddling around with the hats from baby patterns.... and started one for her... a couple of weeks had went by with all the working up a pattern, it being too small, tearing it back out and redoing it.... when I got a call from my Dad, "Dorraine, they took your mom to the hospital and she won't be coming back home this time...." 

Needless to say, I was on a plane the very next morning, thanks to my now ex-Sister in law.... I will never forget her giving heart that year, two trips home to see my mom before she died, I will never forget that.... 

I made it really late that night from the Austin airport, to the hospital where my mom was lying in a coma... I hadn't made it in time to get to talk to her, because she had drifted into a coma that afternoon. 

My mom died that Friday afternoon, my world started crashing out of control.... and that is what leads us into what is called Stress related diseases..... which will all be covered by other blogs.....

So my mother died at 47 years of age, and her mother had died at the age of 47, and now I am facing 47 years of age, so when I had outlived my mother by one day, I decided I wanted to do something with the rest of my life.....so I talked to my husband and we formed the 

Leona Mae Foundation.... where we give hand made gifts to those suffering from illnesses, and diseases, stresses in life that causes such pain and grief, that affects one's ability to live life normally from day to day... we are not a big foundation, yet, we are however a big hearted one..... 

So my foundation makes handmade gifts and gives them to cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, to others who suffer from other invisible and visible disabilities in life... to bring cheer and joy to all those who receive a loving reminder from our foundation that they are not alone in this battle called life. 

I will add more blogs about our foundation and its accomplishments from time to time, but this is a start to tell you a little bit more about me... love to you all, Dorraine