In an effort to remember her son, Timothy Charboneau, in an uplifting manner, Jami Thyer organized a balloon release the evening of Memorial Day.
“Decorating his grave is so sad,” she said Tuesday morning.
Charboneau is buried in the veterans section in Highland Cemetery. Charboneau was enlisted with the Army National Guard. He served in Afghanistan in 2010 and was due to return in 2015.
Charboneau was killed in an automobile accident at age 23 in 2014.
About a dozen joined Thyer at Riverside Park for the balloon release, each remembering the passing of loved ones. Altogether, 25 balloons floated to the sky, memorializing loved ones. The effect was heartwarming, Thyer said.
Along with Thyer was her husband, Tim Thyer, and their grandson, Shayden Thyer, as well as Charboneau’s son, Kaden Charboneau, age 11, who lives in Erie with his great-grandparents.
Thyer said she and Valerie Stewart, Kincaid, plan to make the Memorial Day balloon release an annual event.
