Purposes of the Community Writing Project:
Community Building and the Loss of a Child
Ayrie Mekai Jones Murphy died on September 29th, 2010 at age 4 as a result of complications related to a rare disease. Although his life was short, his spirit was large and the impact of his life and death appears to be far reaching. Throughout Ayrie’s four years, we made choices to intentionally create a normal life full of rich and varied experiences and connections despite his rare chronic disease.
You are on this webpage because you have agreed to participate in a community writing project about community building and the loss of a child. (If you have not yet signed the consent form, please click here).
The primary purposes of this project are to learn more about the scope and quality of these relationships; to understand the impact that Ayrie’s death has had on this community; and to try to describe both the transformative power of this experience as well as the opportunity it provides for continued community in the future.
The secondary purpose of this project is to learn whether there is wisdom to be shared with other families to help them prepare for tragedy and loss through community.