Peers are to gather this weekend to launch balloons in honor of Tim Kilinski.
Sharon Sweazey considered Tim Kilinski to be family.
Tim and her son, Shane, grew up together, the Pohatcong Township mom said.
The boys and their families were together through Cub Scouts, local sports and holidays. The families once shared a limo to the Meadowlands to see a game between the New York Giants, Tim's favorite team, and Shane's St. Louis Rams.
"Tim is my second son, since he was 4," Sweazey said Friday.
A moment of silence was held at Phillipsburg schools for Tim Kilinski, 18, of Pohatcong Township, who died early Tuesday in a crash on I-78. (Facebook photo)She said her house has been turned upside down this week, with dozens of kids each night gathering there to console one another since Kilinski's death Tuesday in an Interstate 78 car crash.
The 18-year-old senior, who split his time this school year between Phillipsburg High School and Phillipsburg Alternative Secondary School, was alone in the car when it slid across the highway in Williams Township, crashing into barriers about 3:55 a.m.
Phillipsburg schools held a moment of silence this week and were offering counseling to students. Pohatcong Elementary School Principal Christopher Kavcak said a number of alumni have come back to the school since Tuesday to talk to their former teachers and deal with grief.
"Things like this really hit the community very hard," Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III said.
As Kilinski's peers mourn, they are devising ways to honor him.
Sweazey said she is helping them coordinate a balloon launch 4 p.m. Sunday at the township elementary school, 240 Route 519. Red and blue balloons -- the colors of both the school and the Giants -- will be released.
It's a way to help the youths feel involved and to give them something to occupy their minds, Sweazey said. She became emotional when she said she was collecting photos of Tim for slideshows and photo albums to be displayed at services tentatively scheduled for early next week.
"It's not work to me. It's the last chapter of my child that I have to finish," she said. "It's not work. It's what I have to do."
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
