A Central New York woman is hoping that she can turn her family’s tragedy into a way to help others who are survivors of suicide loss.

Betsy Cusumano’s husband Tom died by suicide last October. She said she is now determined to help other people who have lost loved ones, and provide other people who have lost a loved one to suicide the same care and guidance that her friends and family provided her.

She emphasized how challenging suicide is for families who are left behind, and how few organized resources are out there for these individuals.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t feel right with having him in a cemetery,” she said, looking over a shelf of family memories. “I just really needed him here still, so that’s why I decided to go this route and cremate him and have him here with us.”

An engraved urn with her husband's name ensures he is always with her.

“We had such a beautiful life, so it’s really hard, the loss is really profound,” she said. “We had a great life together, a fairy tale, really. Our love was so that you could feel it, you could see it, you could touch it."

A note from her husband helped her to understand some of the whys.

“It was out of his control,” she said.

But that didn’t stop the pain of a truly devastating loss.

“At first I thought my whole future was erased, but a good friend of mine said, ‘not erased, just changed,’” Betsy Cusumano said.

She said her husband didn’t struggle with mental health, and the only warning sign she can point to was an ongoing battle with post-COVID-19 symptoms.

An area by the family pool is called "Cusumano Resort" in honor of her husband's love for hosting company.

“Everybody knew Tom would be grilling,” she said. “He would be the one that was on the grill. There are several pictures of him grilling.”

Being a mom, she said she had to balance her own private grief with her children’s grief, and her duty to not allow their lives to be consumed by it.

“I just didn’t feel like they could be surrounded by sorrow and sadness their whole lives. It’s just not OK, and so I’ve really tried hard to create a loving, nurturing house,” she said.

The next step she said, is helping others, launching a nonprofit called the CUS Foundation.

It is her husband's nickname, and she hopes it can be devoted to helping other survivors of suicide loss.

“I really hope to accomplish that by having support groups — doing different things like restorative yoga,” she said. “I want a safe place for survivors to go that’s just for them.”

Because she said while there are a lot of organizations dedicated to suicide prevention, she's committed to expanding resources for those who are left to pick up the pieces when it does happen.

“We’re going to start locally and then eventually, I really would like to go nationwide with it,” she said. “I just need to help as many people as I can.”

The CUS Foundation launches on Wednesday, July 12, the couple’s wedding anniversary. You can access the foundation at thecusfoundation.org.