NEW HYDE PARK, NY — On Monday, Matthew Schaefer, in partnership with the New York Islanders’ Children Foundation and Northwell Health, unveiled the Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Room. It’s a place where kids battling cancer or kids whose parents are fighting the horrible disease are able to go and just be a kid.
Every time Schaefer speaks, you have to listen to everything he says because, whether it’s a joke or a heartfelt sentence, everything he does has a purpose.
After a tremendous speech, Schaefer called up LJ, a 15-year-old kid who was the first one to use the room after his mother, Tenika Isaacs, courageously beat breast cancer.
Schaefer wanted to give him a gift, a bracelet with a ladybug on it.
Here’s a close-up picture of the bracelet:
The ladybug really resonated with me.
My grandpa Bud, who I never got to meet, passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1996, two years before I was born.
Before he passed away, he told my grandma that he would come back as a cardinal and visit her when he could.
Growing up, anytime we saw a cardinal, my grandma, who lived with me, and anyone in my family would say, “There’s Grandpa.”
I remember one day, on an anniversary of his death, my brother and I were sitting on our front steps. And, I kid you not, all of a sudden a red cardinal feather landed on my brother’s lap.
So when Schaefer brought up the ladybug, I immediately thought of my grandpa Bud and how special it was to hear that Schaefer had something like that for his mom, something that often connected him to her.
I spoke with Schaefer some more about the ladybug, and asked his brother Johnny and father Todd about it, too.
Matthew Schaefer
“After she passed, it was crazy. I would shower in my parents’ room, and I’d see ladybugs. I’m like, ‘Are we leaving windows open here?’ You know what I mean? I’m like, ‘Are we leaving windows open or something?’
“And then I started seeing them more and more. I was outside, just sitting in the backyard, and a ladybug landed on me. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Mama.’
“It’s just one of those things where it catches you off guard. You sit there, and you’re like, ‘Wow, Mom, I know that’s you.’ You can kind of talk to her a little bit and thank her for everything she’s done.
“Right after she passed, I started seeing a lot of ladybugs, and I was just like, ‘Wow, this has a lot of meaning to it.’ I love ladybugs. My necklace has a ladybug on it, my watch does, and obviously this bracelet, too.
“It means a lot to me. It’s a way of my mom being around me at all times.”
Johnny Schaefer
“What happened was, whenever there would be a ladybug around, prior to my mom being sick, she was like, ‘Don’t kill it. Let it fly away.’ We never really thought about that. But then, we were in the hospital. I don’t think any of us slept for 48 hours. We didn’t know when she was going to pass.
“She passed, and then our first day coming back, we came home, and all over the windows, it was just littered with ladybugs. I was never somebody to believe in things like that. It’s like something tragic happens, and you either find ways to cope or something just happens that forces you to believe. How could this not be real?
“We came home, and both our bedroom windows, our bathroom windows, were just filled with tens, twenties of ladybugs.
“My dad and I are more similar in that case than Matthew is. Matthew does seek reassurance and things like that. I’ve seen things like that, and I am a firm believer in that, but maybe not so much as Matthew from a spiritual lens. When you come home, and you see something like that, it’s hard not to believe something like that is her coming down and just saying that she’s alright.”
Todd Schaefer
“We’ve just known ladybugs. There are ladybugs in houses all the time, and Matt just gravitated toward it. That took a story of its own, and I just ran with it. For some reason, somebody had told him about a couple of things. One was finding a dime, and one was ladybugs.
“So every time a ladybug [appeared], I let him run with it. Whatever makes him put his head on his pillow and go to sleep in a good place, I ran with it.
“Johnny and I have adapted it through Matt’s beliefs more than anything.”
His Mom can rest in peace, she did a wonderful job with her family. Somehow they have turned their grief into something so positive and uplifting. There is so much more to this kid than hockey 🏒. His Mom is the source of his joy and energy. I think it has touched the entire hockey community. We got so lucky 🍀 to be able to draft this kid. It’s almost like the Islanders Organization was meant to get this kid. They have done a wonderful job guiding and helping this young man. The Martin’s are just perfect for this kid. The Dad and brother seem like great people too. Hockey players in general are down to earth, this kid is grounded and will remain so. It’s the maturity, focus, and burning desire to be the best player and person that makes him who he is. What an ambassador for the game, and a role model. He has a unique insight on what people and families go through during times of illness and grief. He is gifted on and off the ice.