Anyone who’s driven on the Kennedy Expressway has seen the seasonal displays and lights on the Novak Construction building, but few could imagine their meaning to a young girl who’s faced death so many times.
Rosie Colucci, who celebrated her ninth birthday at the construction company Friday, has been in and out of the hospital since she was 10 months old and was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at age three.
Rosie said the lights were a high point on her many trips back and forth to the hospital.
“Every time she would see the lights she would light up,” said Rosie’s mother Jo Colucci. “On our many trips to the hospital, ER… they were always such a bright spot.”
At, Jo Colucci wrote Novak Construction a thank you note for the lighted support. Then, the Colucci family was invited to visit the company.
Before long, the company was supporting Rosie with her fundraising efforts for pediatric cancer.
“It’s amazing how strangers can become part of your life just because I wrote a thank you note,” Jo Colucci said.
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Novak Construction put the sign up again this spring as Rosie faced more surgery. In total, Rosie has had 19 surgeries and 142 doses of chemotherapy.
The company and Colucci family hope the sign will continue to go up for each of Rosie’s birthdays for many more years to come.
