Help Tatiana Cross after the tragic death of her husband!

We are raising funds to help Tatiana Cross navigate what is a very uncertain and extremely difficult time as she picks up the pieces and starts to rebuild her life without her beloved husband Michael Cross. We are doing this so that she can focus on what is truly important and not have the extra pressure and stress of financial burdens. “Please donate to this fundraiser and share it to reach a wider audience.”

Our names are William and Elizabeth Nash. We are the owners of Kitchen Tune Up Beaufort, SC. Together we are setting up this Go Fund Me account for our dear friend, Tatiana Cross, who tragically and abruptly lost her husband, Michael Cross, following a fireworks-related explosion and fire in a detached garage on his mother’s property on Sunday, June 30, 2024. Michael was an Air Force veteran and a licensed pyrotechnician with over 20 years of experience and expertise in the field. He was very skilled in handling fireworks. He was a proud and patriotic American who loved to celebrate the 4th of July. Annually, Michael, along with a few friends, put on large fireworks displays to give back to their community in Erie Pennsylvania.

Michael was Tatiana’s everything, the love of her life, her rock, her comfort, her support. They were married 5 short years, so they were newlyweds as well. It was obvious to everyone who knew them they were truly in love and perfect for one another! They had only just begun their lives together as a married couple with so many dreams and aspirations that will now never be. Michael was a father to 3 sons and a true friend to so many. Tatiana is originally from Russia and has no family here in the United States.

Michael was conducting firework preparations alone when the explosion occurred. Tatiana and Michael’s dog remained behind at their residence on this tragic Sunday morning. After the explosion, Michael made it out of the garage where neighbors helped him get away from the area. Michael was taken to the nearest medical center where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Neighbors recall Michael saying he was not sure what happened and that he did everything correctly prior to the explosion.

We met Michael and Tatiana while training for our new business endeavor, Kitchen Tune Up. Our group of new franchise owners clicked immediately and became close friends very quickly. Michael had a wonderful personality and those who met him simply enjoyed being around him. Michael was always laughing and smiling. His personality was so contagious that before you knew it everyone around him was smiling and laughing as well.

Tatiana has the entrepreneur spirit and Michael was doing all he could to help her achieve the “American Dream”. To fund their franchise Michael took out a business loan as well as a line of credit loan on their home. Michael also ran a small gas/utilities business aside from the franchise that he purchased for Tatiana. The utilities business was their sole income as they were not yet profitable in the franchise due to being in the early stages and establishing it. The gas/utilities business was in Michael’s name only, so Tatiana is now working through massive red tape to try to get things in order. Tatiana needs a strong business Lawyer to help her, however they do not come cheap, especially in the state of NY where the gas/utilities business is based.

As you can only begin to imagine, Tatiana is extremely overwhelmed to say the least. She’s not only grieving the death of her beloved husband she’s also trying to survive the day-to-day financial stressors, funeral costs, mortgage payments, utilities, car payments etc. Her time to grieve has been overshadowed by legal and financial hurdles and burdens. We'd like to show our support for Tatiana during this difficult time by helping her cover unexpected costs due to this sudden tragedy. By taking some of these expenses away. Anything you can do to help Tatiana during this time of heartbreak and change is greatly appreciated. We are contributing the first donation of $1,000 to help our dear friend Tatiana Cross.