OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY

The foundation has purchased laptops for kids to use in the hospital. It recently gave $30,000 to the Cancer Center for Kids' Project Soar, which helps young patients make the sometimes difficult transition back to school--working not just with the kids but with their teachers and classmates.

Last year, the foundation gave Winthrop Hospital a machine called a Veinviewer Imaging System, which makes it easier for technicians to find the veins they need to do blood work and insert IVs, making these procedures less stressful for children.

"The Magro family has been unbelievable," says Dr. Weinblatt.

"They have been able to turn something so sad into something very positive for so many other people. They are extraordinary people.

"The foundation focuses on the ancillary things, the quality of life issues for our patients, making sure people have food, transportation and other necessities, making sure that children get gifts on their birthdays and at Christmas time. Little things like that – things that people often don't think about -- can make a world of difference to frightened children and their families."

Dr. Warren Rosenfeld, chairman of pediatrics at the Hagedorn pediatric unit at Winthrop, admits to being in awe of the Magros.

"They have this ability to give to others and to do so with great compassion. Sometimes, when I need a pick-me-up, I see Terrie and I just feel better about life. I admire so much the way they've been able to move on and do wonderful things for other people. And, sadly, through personal experience, they have great insight into what families go through and what they really need."

The Foundation's major annual fundraiser is called "An Evening of Tasting and Giving." The centerpiece of the event, which draws some 400 people, is the food donated by Paul's chef friends at some of Long Island's finest restaurants and bakeries. Merchants and individuals contribute a wide variety of other items, from wine to go with the food to items for live and silent auctions.

On October 7, the fourth annual Evening of Tasting will honor Michael's friends, the class of 2009 at Hicksville High School. If Michael had lived, he, too, would have been entering his senior year in the fall. Next year, the evening will honor cancer survivors.

Other fundraisers include an annual car wash at Barry Tech, where Paul teaches. Frassanito's Jewelers in Huntington, Long Island, has a pre-Mothers' Day sale in which part of the proceeds goes to the Foundation. The blood drive, at a firehouse in Hicksville, has become an annual event.

One of the more creative and still-evolving fund raisers, which the Magros' dentist helped set up, involves several of the world's best pool players at the Cue Bar, in Bayside, Queens.

"Last year, we counted on people making voluntary contributions to watch the pros play," says Marc Magro, just home from Hicksville High, where he will be a sophomore in the fall. "This year we'll be a bit smarter and charge people to watch. They can also pay to play with the pros, which should be very, very cool."

Marc, who has been cancer free for nearly four years now, has the poise and composure of someone much older than 15.

Marc remembers how scared he was for Michael, and says, "We fought a lot, the way brothers do, but we were also always looking out for each other. I miss him a lot. I help out at the foundation as much as I can."

Marc sits at a table on a deck just off the kitchen of the Magros' home. Behind him, there's a koi pond with a waterfall, which the Magros installed in Michael's memory. Terrie says that Michael was always saying they should put a fish pond in the backyard.

But all the talk about Michael, all the memories and memorials, do not mean that Terrie, Paul and Marc live in the past or are paralyzed by their grief.

"Starting the foundation kept me going," says Terrie. "I realized I had two choices: I could turn into Jello or I could go out there and do something."