“I’m doing things at lightning speed which is overwhelming to me, but so incredibly exciting at the same time. Luckily, the excitement outweighs the overwhelming most days.”

Nine weeks.

As I write this, it has been nine weeks since my mum’s unfathomable murder. While a part of me would have really liked to have holed up in my apartment with my pug, Lenny, and not ever come out again, that is not who I was then and it is not who I am now.

I come from a long line of fighters – women who were much stronger than their peers and what was socially acceptable throughout the generations. No, as an adopted child, we did not share blood or DNA, but they taught me and I was, and continue to be, proudly one of them.

And so, ten days after my mum was mercilessly ripped from this world, I formulated a plan. I would refuse to allow her life to end in such a way. Her mission of selflessness, kindness and love, would become known across the nation and around the world. Her legacy would continue through us.

And thus, The Rita Langworthy Foundation was born.

The lengthy, complicated process of becoming an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that can take up to four years, took us only seven weeks – with an angel watching over us. And I know through every form and hour of waiting for filings and approvals, she has been with us every step of the way.

And she’s thinking she doesn’t deserve any of this. Because that’s just who she was. And why would she be any different now that she’s an angel?