Alayna's HEART

 Alayna’s HEART improves the quality of life for children and adults with special needs and their families with a special focus on those in the Smith-Magenis Syndrome community. 

Alayna Lee joined our family as if she had always been here. She had big blue eyes and a smile that could light up a room. She attended her first baseball game at just a few days old and never missed one. She was her brothers’ biggest fan and they were hers. She was the perfect addition to the family Halloween costume. She rode the mule around her grandparents’ ranch and celebrated her first Thanksgiving. She had cousins and aunts and uncles that adored her and she adored them in return. She had a bow for every occasion and loved twinning with her Mama and when her Daddy made her smile. She celebrated a beautiful first Christmas and New Years’ Eve in matching family pajamas. 

No time with her would ever have been enough, but we were blessed to fit so many memories into so little time.  

Alayna Lee passed away suddenly and inexplicably in her sleep when she was 3.5 months old. Our hearts and our world shattered. While Alayna Lee had received an unexpected diagnosis of Smith-Magenis Syndrome, it couldn’t explain her sudden passing. We were simply and painfully left without our little girl. 

Our Alayna Lee was and is so much more than her diagnosis. While her life would not be what we had imagined, we promised her while she was in our arms that we wouldn’t let her down. She would have the same love, joy, peace, and adventure that we wished for all of our children. We truly believe she would have loved baseball like her brothers, riding horses with her aunts, biking with her Daddy, and books and dogs like her Mama. Alayna’s HEART seeks to raise funds that benefit special needs programs in all of those areas as well as for research that benefits those living with Smith-Magenis Syndrome and their families. With the help of family and friends and the kindness of strangers, we will move mountains for our precious girl. 

 Alayna’s HEART is currently raising funds to benefit the Smith-Magenis Research Foundation. We are also working on identifying projects in our home community where we can directly and locally benefit those with special needs in our area.