The Legacy Continues

They say the love of a child is forever and when their physical presence is gone that their spirit lives within. Jason's spirit is with us every second of everyday and he keeps giving us so much inspiration. We always look forward to our fall visit to the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University. We know we will visit with dear friends (both on and off the campus), meet the new scholarship student, and sometimes see the other recipients. It is an annual tradition that brings so much joy and a few tears. We always start with lunch with the three Math Dudes. They are Jason's college math professors that also have become close friends. His mentor and running buddy is Harley Joe, his music peer is Doc Rock, and his culinary associate is Chicken Fried. Chicken Fried is known to say everything tastes better with batter. After lunch we visit with our friends on campus, go the bookstore, and just hang out. That evening, Harley Joe and his lovely bride bring the new recipient to meet us during dinner. It is the highlight of the trip for not only is every student stellar but they love math as much as Jason did. We have had four to date with Josh being the first, who after his bachelor degree, moved to Texas A&M to earn a Masters in Computational Math. Justin, the second student is now working on his doctorate at Southern Methodist University. Meghan, the pretty redhead to my right, was the third recipient who is now working on her masters at SFA and sharing her gift of math by teaching undergraduates. The 2008 scholarship student is the lovely Czech scholar on my left named Deborah. She is senior this year and still in decision process of her future educational pursuits. Go figure.
We never knew that the gift of the scholarship in the memory of our son, Jason, would bring us so many new friends. We truly feel the committee each year has hit a home run with their selection of a dedicated and focused student. Jason would have been honored to call anyone of them a friend and if I know Jason he would have been calling Meghan and Deborah quite a bit.
SFA provided a way to ensure that Jason will never be forgotten and as his parents there is nothing that brings more solace than others showing how much they loved your
boy and that his legacy lives on.