MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) - The juxtaposition was not lost on the parents of Alexis “Lexi” Mason, whose life was celebrated Tuesday night with the official naming of a trail after their beloved daughter at the Sunnyside Recreation Area in the Lincroft section of Middletown.
As more than a hundred helium balloons floated majestically out of sight toward an angel in heaven while bagpipes played during a launch commemorating the sixth anniversary of Lexi’s passing, a three-ton granite boulder with an inlaid brass plaque of black and gold bearing her name held its position firmly on the ground.
The four-and-a-half-foot-by-five-foot boulder, located a couple hundred feet from a nearby sign declaring this section of the Monmouth County park as the Alexis T. Mason Trail, now serves as a permanent marker on the site where Lexi, at the age of 12, collapsed and died after going into cardiac arrest during a July 23, 2013, training run with the St. Mary’s Soccer Club.
“This trail is dedicated in honor of our daughter,” an inscription on the plaque honoring the late Middletown girl and Edison native reads in part. “Alexis ran here on this trail with her travel soccer team, Magic. In her short time here, Lexi touched many lives with her constant smile, her positive outlook, and her caring and compassion for others. This trail is named in her honor.”
Dignitaries, including Gov. Phil Murphy and Middleton Mayor Tony Perry, who read a proclamation declaring July 23 Lexi Mason Day in the township, attended the dedication ceremony, along with more than 200 community members and friends of the Mason family.
“It means everything to us,” Lexi’s father, Rob, an Edison firefighter, said of the trail, located on Green Acres protected open space, being named in his daughter’s honor.
“I had a vision to have a boulder and this trail named in her honor to be here long after we all are gone. Now people can come and see that she was there. The boulder was really important to me because it’s granite and it’s not going anywhere. Granite is the hardest stone, so it lasts forever. It’s going to be here 200 years from now, and that’s quite an honor for us.”
Lexi’s mother, Denise, an elementary school teacher at Port Reading School No. 9 in Woodbridge, said the overwhelming outpouring of support during the annual balloon launch on the anniversary of her daughter’s passing “makes the day bearable.”
“I’m amazed when I see the people that come year after year,” Denise said. “New faces, old faces. I’m in awe of it. It just keeps growing. It’s better to see people than to be alone. They are the reason we are here and able to function. People just lift our spirits. This is the sixth year and people still come. I can’t believe it.”
This year has been particularly trying for the family of Lexi, who would have graduated last month from Middletown High School South, where classmates honored her by donning a commemorative pin during their graduation ceremony.
“Almost every kid was wearing a Lexi pin,” said Rob, who attended the ceremony with one of his daughters. “It was another great thing done by the community and very emotional for me.”
The Masons have given back to the community and beyond through The Alexis Mason Foundation, which they established in their daughter’s memory to keep alive Lexi’s indomitable spirit and to allow her legacy to be one of helping others.
“Lexi’s legacy is extraordinary, and we are here tonight because of her,” said Murphy, a Middletown resident. “Through the work of the foundation, through the passion and love of not just her immediate family, but her extended family, and through the passion and love of the community - each and every one of you - we are here together for a special night. We are here to salute a gal who changed countless lives and continues to change countless lives all for the better, and those lives include our own.”
The Alexis Mason Foundation awards scholarships annually to children for athletics, arts and academics, ensuring they have an opportunity to follow their passions and dreams, as did Lexi. The foundation donates money to the American Heart Association and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for their continued work in cardiac research. The nonprofit also supports Alex’s Lemonade Stand in memory of Lexi, who felt so strongly about the fight against cancer that she sold lemonade with her sisters and friends throughout the summer for the cause.
“She was just very kind and generous,” Denise said of Lexi, who loved being a big sister to Brianna, 15, and Jessica, 12. “She always had a nice thing to say about (others).”
Lexi was born and raised in Edison, where she lived for six years before the Masons moved to Middletown. She was a kindergartener at St. Francis Cathedral School in Metuchen and attended Middletown Village Elementary School. At the time of her passing, Lexi completed sixth grade with high honors at Thompson Middle School in Middletown.
In addition to excelling on the soccer field, Lexi played softball with the Middletown Youth Athletic Association, where her father and maternal grandfather, Anthony Corsaro, served as her team’s coach. Lexi also loved to dance and took classes at Emotion In Motion Dance Center in Middletown.
“She was very mature for her age,” said Denise, noting Lexi had a love for learning and a passion for life. “She appreciated things more than a normal kid. I almost think, did she know that she was not going to be (here long)? Of course, she didn’t. But the time that she spent here, she strived to do her best. In school, she would work much longer than necessary to get straight A’s. She did this with soccer. She used to literally cry after every single game about how she could improve. She also did this with softball.
“I never met a kid so determined,” Denise continued. “She wanted to get better at everything. A perfectionist is the word. She just had to be the best, and we didn’t act like this to her. It was an intrinsic thing she had in her.”
State Sens. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, and Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., D-Middlesex, urged the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners to rename the trail after Lexi in a June 21, 2018 letter to chairman Fred Rummel.
The legislators stated that naming the trail after Lexi will “allow her memory to live for generations to come” and provide a “gift” that would permit the Mason family to “walk this beautiful trail, named after their daughter, and celebrate her memory in such a meaningful place.”
“The Mason family has faced such a tremendous loss,” Diegnan said. “This simple gesture is the very least we can do to help ease the burden they carry every day and celebrate the life of Lexi. We hope that in renaming the trail after Lexi, the Mason family finds a sense of comfort and peace.”
Rob Mason commenced the dedication ceremony with opening remarks from a podium erected alongside the boulder during which he thanked countless individuals for making his vision of Lexi’s Trail come to fruition.
“I don’t think I could fathom what it must be like to lose a child, but often through tragedy you find yourself doing great things, not only inspiring people, but instilling hope, because that’s what this world is built on,” Perry said. “And you guys are inspiring that hope amongst all of us.”
Perry followed with a reading of the proclamation, which reduced Lexi’s parents and many in attendance to tears.
“The township of Middletown hereby designates this, the 23rd day of July, in memory of Alexis ’Lexi’ Mason,” the proclamation reads. “From this day forward, the 23rd day of July will forever be memorialized for Alexis Mason and the wonderful legacy she left behind. Her drive, passion and kindness toward others will be remembered not only by this day, but through those who knew her and the ongoing work of The Alexis Mason Foundation. On behalf of the residents of Middletown and the entire township committee, we hope this small gesture will forever bring comfort to all who loved her and who will celebrate her life for many years to come.”
Tom Benning, owner of T. Benning Landscaping in Holmdel, and his wife, Laraine, whose daughter dances with Brianna and Jessica at Emotion In Motion Dance Center, donated the three-ton boulder.
The dance studio, which was such an integral part of Lexi’s life, currently plays an equally vital role in keeping alive her spirit.
An annual event, now officially known as The Alexis Mason Foundation Benefit, grew from a celebration of Lexi’s life that one of her dance teachers held months after her passing.
Since its inception, held informally at Shore Regional High School with around 200 attendees, the benefit has doubled in size and been relocated to The Addison Park in Keyport.
The most recent gala featured a gift basket auction, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dancing, a special performance from Emotion In Motion Dance Center’s Lexi’s Angels - a troupe consisting of many of Lexi’s friends - - and a separate dance Brianna and Jessica performed in honor of their sister.
All proceeds from the event benefit The Alexis Mason Foundation. Money from this year’s gala helped subsidize the commemorative 18-inch by 18-inch plaque on the three-ton boulder, which marks the spot of Lexi’s passing.
“We receive hundreds of calls for service a year,” Middletown Chief of Police Craig Weber said. “The vast majority are very routine and uneventful. Then there’s a handful that you remember for the rest of your life. This is one of those calls that we received six years ago tonight. I still remember. I went to the emergency room and had a vigil with about a dozen police officers and first aiders there. I know it’s something we will never forget, and thanks to this beautiful memorial, it’s something the entire community will remember forever.”
The number 27, which Lexi wore on her soccer jersey and which represented the date of her birth in February, was omnipresent on Tuesday night. Dozens of relatives and friends who attended the trail dedication ceremony also wore commemorative silicone wristbands Lexi’s former soccer coach distributed six years ago in honor of the inspirational 12-year-old, whose heart still beats today in its own unique way.
In the weeks after Lexi passed, Rob and Denise Mason, following a discussion with a local cardiologist who screened Brianna and Jessica, decided to donate Lexi’s heart to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“The doctor asked to have Lexi’s heart be at the hospital for research,” said Rob, noting medical students could benefit from studying the rare cardiac anomaly that claimed his daughter’s life.
“Doctors can now look at the anomaly in her heart,” Rob said, “and help other people in the future.”
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