Tribute to Nicole Coumo

The news of Nicole (Nikki) not surfacing from her dive in Jupiter Inlet (Sept. 22, 2007) was devastating to her family, friends, school and her clients. However, most of us clung to hope that she would survive. Those of us that knew her well, agreed with an early entry on spearboard.com's "Pray for Nikki" thread. "Nikki has three things in her favor; She's an experienced diver, a good swimmer and a strong spirit. I trust and pray these strengths will serve her well until she's home safely."

I first thought of how great she was with the kids and how much all the staff relied on her at Incredible Horizons and it caused me to look back to what I wrote for her first award from us. (I am sure parents of children that she worked with all over Brevard County would agree that she was nothing less that phenomenal with their children.)

"Her talent with children just seems to flow from her soul. She helps children with autism develop their skills to communicate what they need and want. Children with social anxieties and difficulties grow into children with confidence that they can handle their daily life. Children develop the ability to resolve conflicts and cope with frustration as she works with them. Each child, in her presence, becomes more comfortable with who they are and learns to love others regardless of their differences.

The staff loves her being in their classroom because she comes up with antidotes for every students struggle. Every student knows that she cares about them personally, whether they are on her client list or not. Her bright smile makes it obvious that she is full of goodness and love, and the kids love it when she stops to help them. She always has some quirky way of making what they struggle with, turn in something fun to do.

Everyone at Incredible Horizons is a better person, because of sharing experiences with her. She gives everything she does 110%. Her amazing presence and wisdom has transformed all of our lives. We are so lucky to have her on staff."

Beyond what she did at Incredible Horizons, she was a modern day "miracle worker" for my daughter, as well as, my cherished mentor and friend. She was extraordinary in every role. My daughter, Hope, saw Nicole as the person who helped others understand her. I have a long list of ways Hope benefited from having Nicole in her life, but simply put, Nicole bought out the best in Hope. Like many of our students, she did not feel like a client of Nicole's. Hope, always felt like she was with a friend. 30 other families from Incredible Horizons are also forever grateful for what Nicole has done for their children. It would take volumes to hold their stories and sentiment towards Nicole.

When I first heard the news of this tragedy, I immediately thought of needing to personally tell Christi Reed. I did not want her to hear about her mentor from the radio. I think she was able to put in words, what all of us that were lucky enough to be mentored by Nicole are feeling.

Nicole was my mentor while I was in grad school and I worked for her company for a while. She met with me, we would go over cases, I would ask questions, and she would help me. That is what she did. She helped people. She smiled, and she made things better.

Though it is hard to think about the great loss of someone like Nicole, it is easy to think about and list the gains, advancements, and simple ways in which the world is better because she lived in it. In the grief that surrounds those whose hearts were closest to her, I hope that it will be some comfort to know that she lives on in so many ways. It is often said that those we love never truly die, for they live on in our hearts and memories.

But Nicole, is with us in more ways than just that. She bettered the lives of children, adolescents and their families. This will have a ripple effect that we will never know about, it will go on and on and on. Those who she mentored and taught will go on to help more people, and again the ripples will spread. The effects of her kindness and ability to help will continue to reach out to countless people. To have bettered the lives of others, that even one person has breathed easier because you have lived is said to be success. Therefore, I don't have a word to describe Nicole, a list of adjectives won't do it, just know that the ripples are still spreading.

May God Be With You.

An entry on spearboard.com early in the week of the search did such a great job describing what type of friend she was:

“Nikki is a strong girl, if anyone can make it through this it's her. She dove with me on my dad's boat out of Sebastian back in April. The boat broke down while we were down and we ended up with a very long surface swim. My dad was having trouble making it around the walk around to drop the anchor, so we were trying to catch the boat most of the way back. I'm a big guy, and not in the best of shape this year. I ended up pretty tired about half way through and started to cramp a little. Nikki made it to the boat and was on her way back out to me. She said it looked like a good opportunity to practice the tired diver tow. Even though I insisted on getting there myself, she really WANTED to tow me back just for the practice. My thoughts and prayers are with you Nikki. I just know you'll be reading all of this as soon as they get you back on dry land.”
-Jason

Another story showing how great it is to have Nikki for a friend was sent to me in an email:

I'm a diving friend of Nikki's. She has been a regular dive buddy of my husband Chuck and I on our boat. In fact, just one week before the tragedy, she spent the weekend diving with us. I was diving on another boat on Saturday, while Chuck and Nikki were diving together. Chuck called from the house to say, "Guess what? Nikki and I are at the house. She's preparing her Rock Salt Crusted Mangrove Snapper for dinner. You don't have to do a thing. She stopped at the store for everything. And she picked up your favorite wine." We had a marvelous dinner.

This type of person has a tendency to bring out the best in people.

By Tuesday, the incident was well covered in the media and the outpouring of supportive services for the 16 divers that hoped to have her home safely had become nothing less than amazing. Scubadiving.com forum summarized the day in the search for Nikki;

"A couple of notes on people who know people and how they have connections to get things done:

* Nikki is the top news story of most every FL TV news cast tonight.
* She was in every newspaper on the east coast of Florida today.
* The coast guard decision (to reopen the search) had input from Washington, DC.
* 2 spearo's plunked down their credit cards at $2K each to rent planes.
* Every beach front hotel knows Nikki could make it to their beach.
* My tanks were filled for free and 1st in line at ScubaQuest because of the search.
* There is not a boat on the water that doesn't know's she is missing.
* D2D's are both in the water and searching the beaches."

Link to Channel 13's broadcast that evening-Holding to Hope

Day four of the search; This entry by "Eastshores" Wednesday Night in the Please pray for Nikki thread on spearboard.com described how much people were stirred by the effort to bring Nikki home:

“I am still praying, that she is holding strong; still praying that any minute now she will finally see that aircraft circle her and dip it's wing. No matter the outcome of this situation, she is bringing love and fellowship and teamwork to so very many people. I just want to say that the community here, and behind her in general is such an inspirational force...I was inspired to help by the kindness and acts of courage so many have demonstrated. This thread was not a report of a diver missing, it was a call to arms.

Doing good things in life pays tenfold. It pays in respect others have of you. It pays in their willingness to risk life and comfort for your safety. It brings assurance that this world so often full of hate can pause for just a breath, and join forces in something worth more than what's for dinner, or whether we can add that sun deck to the house, or as some here have shown, whether rent will be on time this month.

It is an honor to be in the company of such fine people.”

On day 5 of the search for Nicole Coumo, search continues to attract attention to the web. The search for Nikki (Nicole) has brought over 74,000 hits to the “Pray for Nikki" page on spearboard.com. That is not the only page fielding hits. There’s also one for recording the search effort, one for information on the accounts set up to help with funding the search, and one of the photo’s of her. Her tragedy has turned into a testament of how our community can ban together and make a difference.

Incredible Horizons, Brevard County's Early Steps Program, friends, family, and clients all paused for a balloon tribute for Nicole -The students and staff wrote personal messages to Nicole on their balloons. Some children just drew hearts and X's and O's to show how they felt about Nicole. They know that where ever she is, they still can love her. There were big smiles when they let go of their balloons that carried their personal message to her. The video clip below is of that tribute.

What made it perfect for our students was that Nicole's (Nikki) parents took the time to write and fax a message to them.

    "We are pleased that you are using balloons to lift her spirit closer to God. It is such a good way to say goodbye to
    her on this earth. Nikki was a wonderful daughter and a wonderful person. Her smiles and her spirit will stay with
    us forever. Thank you for honoring her memory.

    Please realize that she worked in your school because she loves children and would want every one of you to
    become the best person you can be. Her message is to never give up. Each day, work hard, be kind, be happy,
    and be safe."

The last thing the kids remember from Nicole was a conversation about the risks of diving on the Wednesday before the accident- Nicole stated "If I could choose a way to go -that would be the way I would want to go. It's alot less painful than other ways that I can think of." Because of hearing that conversation, the kids truly believe that, "If she has to stay in the sea, that that is exactly where she would want to be."

We at Incredible Horizons see so much success because of the influence that Nicole had on our choices of programs we used as we developed as a school, as well as, in our kids daily lives. Their lives are forever transformed. We are all are very grateful for having her in our lives.

The children/staff at Incredible Horizons have been truly moved by the inspiring display of courage and goodness they saw in the spearboard.com community. That is something they will carry with them through out life. Because of spearboard.com's example, they will know they need to help in these situations. (They also learned to never rely on the press to define what is important.)

The students and staff, see all of them that participated in the search as being extremely courageous people, with good hearts and strong spirits. We are all grateful for all that was done. All of us at Incredible Horizons, believe that everyone that knew her did what we could and no matter how much we prayed or did, we had to learn that it was all in God's hands.

To all the people of Spearboard.com that helped raise funds, coordinate resources, physically helped the the search and documented the search: Feel good that you were an example of how our students should react with helpfulness and determination to do all they can. It's an everlasting impression that they will carry for the rest of their lives.

Even though our community, her friends, her co workers, her clients and her family miss her greatly. Just as in life -She is loved, wherever she is.

       Musical Slide Show
                  Tribute
          Of Jupiter Florida
                Where her last dive took place
             Photo Tribute by Angela Mozzocco
                              Click here

                                                                              To Nikki the ocean was her playground
                                                                                     -Full of adventure and fun
                                                                                  -Best when shared with friends

In Memorium: Nicole "Nikki" Cuomo

“I’m moving gently forward over the wild and beautiful unexplored world below me. I am floating in silence and breaking it up with the sound of my breath.

Above me there is nothing but shimmery light; the place where I come from and will go back to when I am done here.

I am diving. I am a SCUBA diver. I’m going deeper past the wrinkled rocks and dark seaweed toward a deep blueness where a school of silver fish wait. As I swim through the water, bubbles burst from me, wobbling as little jellyfish as they rise.

I check my air. I don’t have as much time as I need to see everything, but that is what makes it so special.” – Bridge to Terabithia

................................

I love that piece. Every time I read it, my mind’s eye plays back the familiar memories, memories that I know we all have, of that deep blueness, the waiting school of silver fish, and of course, the shimmery light.

"Above me there is nothing but shimmery light; the place where I come from and will go back to when I am done here."

Our friend, Nikki, is done here. I don’t understand it, and I’m confused by so many things, but I’m ready to let go of the grief and to make my peace with her passing. I'm reminded that there are times when we simply have to stop and be humble enough to understand that there is something called mystery in life, and it’s not up to us to have all of the answers.

So how do you recover from an extraordinary loss? You take stock of the loved ones around you. Hug them, love them, and cherish them. When you appreciate the joys in your life, it makes sorrow that much easier to swallow. Every day is a new day. Hope floats, so let it rise. Nikki taught us that if you wish to have a meaningful life, a life rich with passion and wondrous experiences, you must seek to give your greatest strengths to the world. Give joy. Then enjoy. Think joy. Nikki lived that way every day.

The proof is in her broad, wide smile.

She knew, as I do, that it isn't enough to have lived. We all should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of person kind, bringing hope to the lost, and love to the lonely. Nikki did that every day.

Wherever you are, Girl, hear me when I say that though you have moved on, YOUR bright light will not fade from this place and the lives that you have touched will forever glow from the warmth of your heart.

“Warm summer sun, shine kindly here; Warm southern wind, blow softly here; Green sod above, lie light, lie light - Good night, dear heart, good night, good night.” - Mark Twain.

Until we meet again,

Petra

This is the account information for those that want to help fund the search as a way of honoring Nicole.

Nicole's parents themselves oversee this Wachovia account:

They will take cash, checks, account transfers, Domestic and International wire transfers (see info below)

For wire transfers use:
Domestic: Routing # 063000021
International: Swift # PNBPUS33
Note: The bank has an extra charge for wire transfers email us for further info

If anyone is going to write a check, due a change the bank made, it has to be written like this: