by Len and Cherylann

For more than a month after January 12, 2010, time moved differently. Days blurred together, measured not in hours but in updates, prayers, and unanswered questions. Hope lived beside fear, and every call from Haiti held the fragile balance between hope and heartbreak.

In those early hours before the earthquake, Brit shared words that would later become the heart of everything that followed. They were simple, honest, and filled with the curiosity and compassion that defined her spirit:

“They love us so much… I want to move here and start an orphanage myself.”

At the time, they were a reflection. In the years since, they have become a mission.

For 33 days, we waited. We held onto the possibility of good news while preparing ourselves for what we feared most. On February 14, the waiting ended. The news arrived that Brit had been recovered. It was a moment marked by deep sorrow, but also by profound gratitude for the people who refused to give up, particularly those at Hotel Montana and Col. Norberto Cintron and his team, whose compassion, persistence, and humanity allowed Brit to be brought home and laid to rest with dignity and faith. In a season defined by uncertainty, their actions reminded us what care and service look like in their truest form.

Though those 33 days shattered us, they also showed us the enduring power of love.

They revealed something essential: love does not disappear in tragedy. It transforms. It takes root. It finds new ways to live on.

We chose to honor that time by weaving the number 33 into Brit’s legacy. When Brit’s Home first opened its doors, 33 boys and 33 girls became the first children to call it home. What began as Brit’s dream became a shared promise, and that promise became Be Like Brit. Not built in response to loss alone, but built from intention, faith, and an unwavering commitment to care for others as Brit had envisioned.

Brit’s Home stands today as a living expression of love that endures. It is a place grounded in stability, education, belonging, and hope. It is a reminder that legacy is not defined by what was lost, but by what continues. Through daily routines, shared meals, learning, laughter, and milestones both big and small, Brit’s spirit is present not only in memory, but in action.

For many, February 14 is a day about love.For us, it is also a day of remembrance.

A reminder that love never dies, it simply finds new ways to live on.

It lives on in every child who walks through the doors of Brit’s Home. It lives on in every caregiver who shows up with compassion. It lives on in every person who chooses to carry Brit’s legacy forward through action, service, and belief.

This day invites us to hold both grief and gratitude. To remember what was lost, while honoring all that has grown in its place. It calls us to recommit ourselves not only to remembrance, but to love in its most enduring form.

As we mark February 14, we do so with humility and resolve. Brit’s dream did not end with her. It continues steady, rooted, and full of hope.

Thank you for remembering. Thank you for believing. And thank you for helping ensure that Brit’s legacy lives on.