On May 31, 2003 our family experienced a life changing tragedy that we will never forget. I lost my brother/best friend in a car accident and he will be truly missed. Nathan was a very special guy and one of the things that made him so special was his attitude on life. He would go out of his way to talk to anybody, whether he knew them or not. It didn't matter who they were, or where they were from. This quality helped him gain many friends throughout the years.
During his senior year Nathan, along with the rest of the Lake Benton Juniors and seniors was offered the opportunity to take some classes in RTR, which weren't available to them in Lake Benton. Nathan saw this as an opportunity to make some new friends and take some classes that would help in the future. He immediately jumped at this opportunity but was the only senior to do so. This didn't bother Nathan though, because he knew he could easily make new friends and he was not afraid of change like everyone else. By the end of the year, he had made friends with nearly the whole school and received a great education from the classes he had taken.
If only we could all learn from Nathan and stop worrying about change and start focusing on education. I believe this tragedy has brought the Lake Benton and RTR kids closer because Nathan was such a good friend to both. It seems funny that our children can hang out with kids from RTR but we cannot go to school there. Does this have anything to do with the parents I wonder?
I don't have a bunch of fancy statistics and I don't have 100 signatures to prove it but I can bet that our kids would get a better education if the parents would just get along and stop being so selfish. From this tragedy the most important thing we have learned is to appreciate every moment and don't take anything for granted. So please open your eyes and think about what really is important? 50 years from now, is it really going to be worth all the fighting and arguing? Take a lesson from Nathan. He always used to say, "Why can't we just be friends?" |
