Wilton High School alums Lisa Freeman and her sister Joan would never have believed how strong old school ties could be. It took a family tragedy to bring the point home. A week before he was killed in Afghanistan at the age of 29, Lisa's son Matthew asked her to start a project sending pens and paper to children in war zone nations.
"Little did I know that when I told my sister his words, and she relayed them in the message [to their former Wilton classmates] that it would turn into such a wonderful project," Lisa said.
Freeman and Avellone their maiden name is Baumgardner -- moved all over the U.S. growing up in a Navy family. They lived in Wilton for about a year and a half in the late '60s. Forty years later, Joan, whose last name is now Avellone, went to her class reunion and began e-mailing former classmates when she found out about Matthew, who was killed in action about a week after arriving in the war zone.
"Before I knew it, they wanted to do something in his name," Avellone said of the the Matthew Freeman Project: Pens and Paper for Peace.
One of those former classmates was Jim Bunn, who spent time in Afghanistan as an embedded journalist, understood Freeman's dream and wanted to help. Then he realized that the women involved were actually his close friends the Baumgardners. He decided to film a documentary and was instrumental in launching the project.
Now, about a year after her son's death, Lisa is sitting down with generals to figure out ways to get the items Matthew requested sent to the children in need.
"It's been a rough year, but also a very rewarding year because so many good things have come together," she said.
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