TODAY, had Gregory Isaacs been alive, he would have been celebrating his 61st birthday. But for his widow June Isaacs she will be sharing the day with her late husband in a special way — by launching the Gregory Isaacs Foundation and placing a headstone on his grave.

“We are coping. It’s hard, when you look at it he was really the primary person for his family. It’s like you have a chair and all of a sudden two feet gone, but you have to go through,” were the sentiments expressed by her in a conversation with Splash.

She also expressed gratitude to the many who since the time of Isaacs’s death has not ceased to give their support to the family — be it encouraging words or just being there.

“We have gotten a lot of moral support from the music fraternity especially from Tad Dawkins (Tad Record International), Mr Ranglin (GG Records), VP Records, the culture minister, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, and Robert Livingston,” she said.

According to June, laying the headstone was just a matter of keeping with tradition. “We just see it fit to do it on his birthday as the other date that would have been next in line is October 25 his memorial.”

June will also be using the occasion to officially launch the Gregory Isaacs Foundation, which she says is a tribute to the giving nature of the late singer.

“We will be continuing the charitable work he started,” she said, adding that the late singer used to embrace the Walker Place of Safety on Lyndhurst Road by hosting annual treats for them.

June said she will continue to donate to the home and the Harmony Basic School in Windsor Height, St Catherine — another charity of her late husband.

In expounding on the work the foundation will be involved, June said they will be identifying other ways and means to help. One of the avenues being looked at, she said, is awarding a scholarship to a deserving student from All Saints All-Age School — Gregory Isaacs’s alma mater.

The foundation will also be looking at awarding two more scholarships — one to a prospective student of the Jamaica School of Music and another to someone from an inner-city area, preferably Fletchers Land where Gregory Isaacs grew up.

The foundation will be funded by Gregory Isaacs’s estate, fundraisers as well as donations from family, friends and fans of the late singer, his widow revealed.

The headstone laying will take place today at the Dovecot Memorial Park at 12 noon and the ceremony will be facilitated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

The ceremony will take the form of an hour-long chanting and drumming session at the grave site led by well-known percussionist Bongo Herman.

Following the graveside ceremony the ‘birthday’ celebration will continue with an evening of music with songs from the late singer being played at his Sunrise Crescent home in Kingston.