Mom plans to honor late son with ‘14 Days of Joy’
Drew Lighthall’s smile is what Sharon Kirkpatrick misses most about her son.
That’s why she’s chosen to honor his life by spreading joy to others.
Since Lighthall’s death nearly four years ago from an accidental opioid drug overdose, Kirkpatrick has devoted herself to helping disadvantaged kids in the area gain access to extracurricular activities through her nonprofit, Smiles from Drew.
In addition, for the two weeks leading up to the anniversary of Lighthall’s death, she commits herself to a personal project titled “14 Days of Joy,” in which she does at least one act of kindness every day. The annual memorial, which begins Monday, is her way of turning tragedy into something positive, and “to physically remind myself to experience joy — to give and receive it,” Kirkpatrick said.
In the past, the two-week project has involved handing balloons and Popsicles out to people on the Plaza, bringing flowers to nursing homes and assisting neighbors with yardwork. This year, the plan is to give McDonald’s gift cards to strangers and scatter inspirational quotes around town, as well as provide art supplies for kids who paint in Swan Park, she said.
Her efforts, done alongside her two daughters, 20-year-old Madison Lighthall and 6-year-old Molly Kirkpatrick, are in memory of Drew — a young man who “loved everybody with such a
huge heart,” Sharon Kirkpatrick said.
Still, she acknowledged 14 Days of Joy is partly a distraction that “helps get me through.”
Lighthall, who was 20, died Aug. 5, 2015.
She recalls the terrible news in exacting and excruciating detail. Kirkpatrick, now a paralegal with the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department, said she was working in another job at the time, listening to music and eating a Pop-Tart, when she she got word of Drew’s death.
“I just remember standing in the parking lot, screaming,” she said through tears.
Kirkpatrick said she initially had no idea her son died from an overdose. Some family members suspected it could have been a heart attack — “he was a pretty heavy guy,” Kirkpatrick said — while others speculated it had been appendicitis or some sort of freak accident.
It was on her 40th birthday, nearly three months after Lighthall died, that Kirkpatrick received the Office of the Medical Investigator report, which revealed the cause of death was an overdose of the opioid Tramadol.
“I remember just crumbling. I couldn’t handle it,” she said.
Kirkpatrick said she doesn’t want her son’s final moments to define his life. Today, loved ones recall his compassionate, funny and multifaceted nature.
“He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. He made a real impact on my life,” said Daniel Ryan, one of Lighthall’s closest friends since he was 6 years old. The two grew up wrestling together.
From the time Lighthall was little, he was heavily involved in sports. He tried just about everything — wrestling, football, baseball, basketball, rugby, lacrosse, hockey and soccer — until he went to high school at Tierra Encantada Charter School, where he excelled in math and science and was the senior class president.
In 2011, Lighthall was selected for a science internship program at the National Center for Genome Resources, and in 2013 ventured to Western New Mexico University to pursue a degree in botany. There, he planned to study the science behind marijuana and herbal remedies, his mom said.
But, she said, “Partying got in the way. … He made one bad choice and that was it.”
In February 2016, Kirkpatrick founded Smiles from Drew, a nonprofit she said has given about $10,000 to get kids involved in miscellaneous extracurricular activities, mainly sports. Having been a single mom and hairdresser for most of Lighthall’s upbringing, Kirkpatrick said she is all too familiar with how difficult it can be for low-income families to provide such opportunities to children.
At first, Smiles from Drew aimed to raise funds solely to provide assistance to high school football players who struggled to cover registration fees and the cost of gear.
Soon after Smiles From Drew’s inception, “I realized we could do so much more,” Kirkpatrick said.
Since then, she estimates the nonprofit has served about two dozen youth, branching out to pay for karate, gymnastics and baseball — even registration for a bull riding event and enrollment in an after-school robotics class.
“I truly believe every kid deserves the chance to find what their passion is, and the only way to do that is to try different things,” she said, adding her longterm goal is for the nonprofit to become a full-time boys and girls club where kids can participate in creative crafts and sports for free.
“What Sharon’s doing is a way to keep [Lighthall’s] memory alive,” Ryan said.
Standing at a memorial tree at Ragle Park, planted on what would’ve been Lighthall’s 24th birthday, Kirkpatrick remembers watching her son play baseball there and climb trees that surround a playground.
A plaque that reads, “One smile, one kindness, could change someone’s life,” commemorates Lighthall’s life. Looking at the words, she recalls why she started the nonprofit and launched 14 Days of Joy. The quote evokes good memories.
“That’s what he did,” Kirkpatrick said.
“He had the biggest smile, the biggest heart,” agreed Ryan. “I’m gonna do what Drew did. I’m gonna try to make not only myself, but everybody around me happy. … I want to give somebody a smile.”