Always remember and never forget

Last weekend my Mom and I had the opportunity to attend a scholarship dinner in honor of donors who have given scholarships to students in the College of Agriculture at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.  My sweet cousin Scott (the big guy in the blue and white stripped shirt) invited me to come a couple of months ago, right after I found out about my diagnosis.  I really wanted to be there and I'm so glad we could attend, even though I wasn't sure if my health would be good enough to travel.  Scott has endowed two scholarships at USU, one in the name of his son Dusty and another in the name of his father Dean who have both passed away.

Dusty was one of nine USU students who were killed in a horrible accident when the 11 passenger van they were driving in on a agriculture field trip, crashed and rolled, killing 9 of the 11 passengers including Scott's son Dusty.  The accident happened seven years ago today, September 27, 2005.  USU has since erected a beautiful memorial in remembrance of those 8 students and their instructor who died that day.  Two men survived the crash and of those two, one is leading a normal life and was recently married.  The other suffered severe brain damage and is alive but very disabled.

Scott chose to turn his grief into some positive.  He endowed a scholarship in the name of his son Dusty.  He also made a sizable donation to USU to help the college build an agriculture laboratory named for Dusty.  The lab is for the study of seeds and plants (Dusty's interest) as seen above.  Scott is on a first name basis with the Dean of the College and is well known and respected at USU.  I'm so proud of him!  He has taken a tragedy and turned it into an ongoing triumph! 

After my uncle Dean passed away last year, Scott decided to endow another scholarship in the name of his father.  Anyone can contribute to the scholarship and I think it would be a great way for our family to support Scott in this endeavor.  Two USU students were at the dinner and were awarded the scholarships that will help them immensely in their educational pursuits.  We enjoyed sitting by them at the dinner as well as by my cousin Lee and her husband Devon who were representing their parents (my Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Bill who were out of town.)  It was great to be there with Scott to support him and celebrate something good and worthwhile.  Again, I'm so proud of my cousin who has done some good in the world. He is a dry farmer who have worked on the family farm his entire life.  He is an amazing man and I admire him so much.