A Marina mother turns the tragic loss of a child into an annual gift and birthday party for all children.

Astrid Lang is sitting in the sunroom off of the Marina home she’s lived in since 1971, bathed in the afternoon light and looking into her cheery patio garden full of flowers and succulents. Her quick eye spies a hummingbird as it flits onto the tallest branch and perches for a rest. She points it out with her finger.

“Hummi is my friend,” she writes on a steno pad on the table in front of her. Lang, 79, can no longer speak, and while amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive neurodegenerative disease known as ALS, may have robbed Lang of her voice, it has not diminished her ability to communicate – nor has it erased her memories.

In addition to the pad, Lang has two handheld whiteboards and dry-erase pens. She carefully writes out her responses to questions, sometimes correcting her grammar with a swipe of a finger, or changing a word as she thinks of just what she wants to say.

And she has a lot to say, especially about her daughter, Michelle, and the legacy Lang and her late husband, Bill, created in their daughter’s memory at the Marina library.

Michelle was 32 when she was killed by a man in Pacific Grove on Dec. 29, 1994. Always one to assist others, she was helping the meth-addicted man enter rehab. Her death left behind two young sons, and her parents with broken hearts. Afterward, Lang worked tirelessly for victims’ rights with Parents of Murdered Children. Around 2000, Lang and her husband heard that donations were being collected to build a new building for the Marina branch of Monterey County Free Libraries. Remembering how much Michelle loved to read to her sons, the couple knew what they had to do.

“We established the Michelle Lang Children’s Room with funds from a $50,000 pledge my husband and I made,” she says. “We wanted to make sure our daughter’s sacrifice is never forgotten.”

The library was built in 2007, and the prominent room labeled with Michelle’s name is the first thing visitors see when they walk in the doors.

Lang became involved in the Friends of the Marina Library, at first helping to sort, clean and price donated books for FOML sales. The tasks in turn made her love of the library and books “take flight,” and soon she was a fixture as a library volunteer and a member of the FOML board.

“There isn’t anything I didn’t do for FOML,” she says. “We have become a family and I consider it a stroke of luck to be given the chance of a lifetime and be part of it all.”

Several years ago, Lang had a new idea: “[Michelle] loved a good party, I decided that her zest for life needs to be used to do something fun and good.”

That became “an all-out birthday party for all children,” every May since 2013. The first year was “nothing like it is now,” she says. It’s grown to a half-day of pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, crafts, popcorn, ice cream and dancing, enjoyed by several hundred guests.

Lang was the chairperson until she stepped down due to health issues, but notes it’s entirely volunteer-run by members of FOML. She sets down the whiteboard and claps her hands, with a big smile on her face before continuing: “It’s something Marina is proud of. We get so much good input and praise from parents, not only on the day of the party, but all year long.”

The party is free to the community, and Lang has ensured it will continue annually with an endowment. “The party is like a living thing, it will always be celebrated on a Saturday in May around Michelle’s birthday [May 10],” Lang says. “She will make sure of it, and me, too.”

This year, the party was held May 12. Six days before, in her sunroom at home, Lang can’t commit to attending. If it’s a good day and she’s feeling up to it, she says she will, but there’s no guarantee.

The day of the party, giddy children are everywhere taking in all the activities. Amazingly, almost no one appears to get cranky standing in long lines for popcorn or ice cream, or waiting their turn to pet the bunnies.

Just after noon, Lang arrives, pushed in her wheelchair by Ian Klotz, her grandson and Michelle’s son. (Klotz also serves on the FOML board of directors.)

With dozens of children and their parents gathered near Lang, fellow boardmember and friend Cristina Medina Dirksen introduces Lang to the children and parents, asking them to say together, “Thank you, Miss Astrid.” The chorus is followed by a round of singing, “Happy Birthday to All of Us.” Two children spontaneously approach Lang and give her a hug.

She’s here, so it must be a good day. Smiling, she gives two thumbs up, and then writes something on a small notepad on her lap.

“Happy Birthday for Michelle.”