Rotina Lacy, the mother of Airman Makai Cummings, sat quietly in a chair while her son’s name was called during a Memorial Day observance at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Her hands clutched a crumpled tissue and her name plate necklace that read “Makai” sparkled in the light against her neck. An instrumental version of “Hallelujah” played as she accepted a plaque from Gov. Wes Moore as he embraced her.

Lacy lost her 20-year-old son last year, on May 8. A graduate of Baltimore City College, Cummings was just beginning his military career, was assigned to the 335th Fighter Generation Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He was driving back to base after visiting his family and got a flat tire on a Virginia highway. As he worked on the car, he was struck by another driver in a hit-and-run. The driver responsible has yet to come forward.

The year hasn’t been easy for Lacy.

She talks about how life has been rough and how her faith has helped guide her through. Cummings’ birthday was this past Saturday, and the family celebrated it by doing all the things he would have wanted to do, like karaoke.

“He was a good singer. All of my children are really good singers,” Lacy said. “He liked this one song by Lenny Williams but we didn’t sing that one because nobody could top him.”

She added: “We were very intentional about finding ways to smile.”

She wiped her eyes and continued, recalling a time when one of Cummings’ friends passed away and the strength he showed through the grief. “To see him be so strong during that, wow. I know he would want someone to speak for him,” she said.

At the Cockeysville cemetery during Monday’s ceremony, Cummings’ family and loved ones sat underneath a white tent, facing his gravesite. The letters to his name were forged in bronze and the sunlight danced across them whenever it was able to peek from the looming rainclouds. The mourners remained composed and graceful as they listened to the other names and stories being read aloud during the “Loved and Lost” portion of the observance.

“I will celebrate Memorial Day in a whole different way now. Not just remembering and honoring my son, but all of the ways the military has come to support us during this time,” Lacy said. “This time last year I was in a fog, but this year I can listen a little more intently, take it all in. I was looking forward to this year because I remember how beautiful it was last year,” she said.

The family is asking that anyone with information regarding the hit-and-run of Airman Makai Cummings to please come forward.