Because Love Always Shows Up
Our Mission
At When Dragonflies Appear Foundation, we exist to honor a legacy of love and to serve families facing the unimaginable. Our mission is simple but powerful: to provide emotional and practical support to caregivers and families affected by cancer — especially those navigating rare diagnoses and overwhelming responsibilities.
Through in-home care, therapy, and rare cancer research funding, we help carry the weight so no one has to walk this journey alone. Every act of care is a tribute to one woman’s quiet strength — and to every family who deserves to feel supported, seen, and never forgotten.
Our Story
In 2023, my world changed forever when my mom, Kathleen Frank Piglia, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of stomach cancer.
What followed was a whirlwind of surgeries, hospital stays, and the eight final months of her life — months where my family and I became her full-time caregivers, walking with her through every moment.
Caring for my mom was both an honor and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. She needed 24/7 care, and somehow, we made it work — because that’s what love does. That’s what she always did — for us, and for everyone she knew.
My mom wasn’t just a mother. She was a steady, giving force — always putting others first, always present, always making sure people felt cared for. Even in her final days, she was still thinking about others. That’s just who she was.
Two days before she passed, I asked her if she would send me a sign — something to let me know she was still with me. We thought about butterflies and birds, but another image came to mind: a dragonfly. For us, dragonflies symbolize joy, transformation, strength, and resilience. It felt right. It felt like her. She smiled and said, “Yeah, I think I can do that.”
And she did. Dragonflies began to appear in my life again and again — in quiet moments, in places where I needed comfort, always when I needed to feel her near. They weren’t just signs. They were reminders: love doesn’t leave. Love always shows up.
That’s the mission behind this foundation — to show up for others the way she always did. To help families like ours navigate the impossible. To give care, create space for healing, and carry forward a legacy of compassion and connection.
Because when dragonflies appear, so do we.
Every Family Deserves to Feel Cared For
Help us carry this legacy forward — one act of love at a time.