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Mother spreads love through Hope Flowers for son fatally shot in 2017

Indianapolis mom recycles love in son’s name

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A mother is rejecting negativity after her son, 19-year-old Justin Crowder, was fatally shot during a triple homicide in July 2017.

Misty Kuneman is hoping people take flowers she’s set out. Each set of flowers has the quote “Recycle love” on the tag so people can experience a ripple of positiveness after her son’s death instead of the negativity she saw.

When Crowder was shot and killed, his family grieved. But, the grief only grew as the killer released a song describing the details of the killing. His mom says the song is the main thing people remember from Crowder’s death.

“Suddenly that song had gone viral and the families have had to listen to that,” Kuneman said. “So, I wanted to do something in a bigger support and try to create a large ripple effect of kindness.”

Kuneman’s response is what she calls Hope Flowers. She makes the flower-adorned crosses out of flowers she finds scattered around the cemetery where her son is buried. She wants them to spread joy in her son’s name. That’s why they’re labeled “Recycle love.”

“The flowers that I gather are love that people have already given out to their loved ones that have passed before us,” Kuneman said. “So, I’m recycling that love and giving it back out to somebody else.”

She says the flowers remind her of how her son lived.

“I think my son would be very proud of me,” Kuneman said. “My son was one who was always doing random acts of kindness himself. He was very known for going out and buying pizzas and just passing out pizzas to random people who he walked by.”

She’s hoping the love can continue to be recycled beyond just the people who take the flowers. She hopes the flowers find their way to other families whom are going through tough times.

“I know what I get from it,” Kuneman said. “Being able to give love and put all the love into these that I can’t give to my son, helps me a lot.”

Kuneman says she’s not limiting hope flowers to Indiana. She wants to continue to see the flowers spread joy in Justin’s name. She’s set up a GoFundMe so you can help even if you didn’t get a flower.