Wife’s World Crumbled with Husband’s Death, But She’s Rebuilding it a Kindness at a Time

Cynthia and Fred Scully were madly in love and raising a beautiful 15-month old daughter when their world crumbled.

In November 2011, they received the news that Fred, who was only 29 and didn’t smoke, had stage IV lung cancer.

“We were devastated by the news and I’ll admit it – bitter,” Cynthia said in a Facebook post.

At the time of his diagnosis, the cancer had already spread to both of his lungs, as well as his liver, lymph nodes, bones and brain. The days after Fred’s initial diagnosis were filled with kindness, love and compassion as friends, family and even strangers showed unexpected amounts of support.

“Neighbors delivered home-cooked meals, provided lawn care and hung Christmas decorations,” Cynthia said. “Fred’s colleagues at Bank of America gave him an iPad to distract him during chemotherapy and a couple we’ve never met paid several of Fred’s medical bills.”  

Fred lost his battle with cancer on May 19, 2012 – a month away from his 30th birthday.

Cynthia began to dread Fred’s birthday and searched for something to distract her. “I knew I needed a strategy for facing such an incredibly sad day,” she said.

As a way to cope, she created “Pay It Forward Fred,” a day dedicated to giving and making people feel good.

Tell us:

• How will you pay it forward on June 21? List some of the random acts of kindness you can plan to perform – or have been the recipient of – in the comments.

More ways to get involved:

• Post on the Facebook page and submit pictures and videos showing how you “pay it forward.”

“I see the day as an opportunity to reflect on all the kindness we received during Fred’s illness and to pay it forward by giving to others,” she said.

The third annual Pay It Forward Fred Day will be on June 21.

“When you give, you receive,” said Cynthia, who plans to spend the day donating blood, purchasing meals for strangers and registering as a bone marrow donor. She hopes that these little acts of selflessness will continue to honor Fred’s legacy.

Cynthia says “We hope that as the community gets involved, people can post photos and videos of what they are doing and we can feed off of that and be inspired by each other.”