It's been nearly four years since a drunk driver killed her three children, but Jennifer Neville-Lake is still every bit as heartbroken. This September marks what would have been another new school year for kids, but instead, all she could do was visit their graves. And so, the Ontario, Canada, mom, who also lost her father in the crash, took to social media to share a heartbreaking image of her children's lunchboxes set atop their gravestones as a reminder of all she has left.
Neville-Lake says her entire world came crashing down on September 27, 2015.
Her children — Daniel, 9, Harry, 5, and Milly, 2 — were all riding with their grandparents in Vaughan, Ontario, when a drunk driver suddenly struck them, according to People.
"It was a T-bone collision at an intersection,” Constable Andy Pattenden with York Regional Police Pattenden explained. “The impaired driver failed to stop at the stop sign.”
Daniel died that day, and his siblings Milly and Harry later passed away while being treated at a nearby hospital. Neville-Lake's father also died from his injuries.
The only survivor was Neriza Neville, her mother.
The driver, who has been identified by Fox News as Marco Muzzo, was found to have a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit. Muzzo was later arrested and charged with several impaired driving offenses and remains in prison.
Neville-Lake's heartbreaking new Facebook post, which commemorates the four-year anniversary of the tragedy, is being shared.
The lunchboxes that sit atop each gravestone in the photo were purchased before the children's deaths and sadly underscore just how much the mother has lost.
"These were their lunch bags for their 2015 school year," the heartbroken mother wrote in a September 3 post. "Grade 8. Grade 4. Grade 2. Or rather, should be! Our family's first day of school, because of a drunk driver."
Neville-Lake recently spoke with CafeMom and shared that each of the bags held a very special meaning to her — not just because they belonged to her children, but because they each evoke a memory.
"Milly's is the only one with her full name on it," she says. "Daniel knew she was starting school soon and wanted her to have a lunchbox to practice with, so he and Harry designed her bag."
"The boys' bags in the photo are their lunchboxes from the year before, as they were still in good shape," she adds. "Daniel's is the camo one with his favorite number of 10,000 and Harry chose the name of his guinea pig for his, Fixer."
Understandably, this time of year brings with it so many mixed emotions for the grieving mother.
She admits that some people often hesitate about bringing up normal back-to-school routines and tasks in front of her. But she says she doesn't mind.
"I don't think they are silly because I used to complain about the exact same things and really wish I could still," she says. "I miss my life as a mom to living children."
The return to school isn't the only emotional milestone for her, though.
"Aside from the day my beautiful life was destroyed by a drunk driver, this time of year is an immense struggle for me as I have to get through again the crash date, my children's death dates, my wedding anniversary, their funerals and burial date, all from Sept 27 to Oct 17," she says. "For example, I don't know of a single bride who has to hold a friends and family viewing of her children and dad in their caskets … on her 10th wedding anniversary. I got married in 2005 and that was what I was doing on my 10th wedding anniversary on Oct 2, 2015."
She continues, "I am living every parent's worst nightmare. No one wants to think that you can lose all your children on a beautiful Sunday afternoon as they come home from a visit with their grandparents."
Neville-Lake says her Facebook post is sadly "a tangible reminder of what you can be left when your children are taken from you" — especially at the hands of a drunk driver.
Since losing everything, the mom has decided to make something good come from her tragedy -- she has started her own charitable organization.
Neville-Lake recently founded the nonprofit organization Many Hands, Doing Good, which funds art and music therapy for children suffering from trauma.
She also says that every bit of love and support she gets from others has helped her through her time of darkness.
"I miss my loves terribly and I want to be with them more than anything in the world," she tells CafeMom. "What helps to keep me here until my natural death is all the kind words and messages that people send us to let us know we are not alone in this inky hellish blackness, that people are walking with us as much as they can. Every note, every kind word is a tiny flicker of light that helps to keep us here."
