[PHOTO/CAPTION: Brianna Nelson]

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Brianna Nelson]

The Braille Monitor

October,

2003

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Memorial for Brianna

Nelson

by

Marc Maurer

Brianna

Nelson

On the evening of July

18, 2003, Brianna Nelson, the seven-year-old daughter of Carl and Danelle Nelson,

died. She had been on a swimming expedition conducted as part of the training

program for blind children operated by BLIND, Incorporated, the training center

for blind children and adults established in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by members

of the National Federation of the Blind. The blind students were swimming at

Lake Calhoun near the lifeguard stand when counselors noticed that Brianna was

missing. They sought help immediately, but Brianna was not discovered below

the surface of the lake for several minutes. She died at the hospital later

that evening.

Joyce

Scanlan, director of BLIND, Incorporated, notified the parents of all of the

participants in the program of the tragic accident. All of the other students

remained for the course of classes, which would continue over the next few weeks.

Brianna was a strong-minded,

joyous, enthusiastic person. The positive impact she had on hundreds of people

living in many states was commemorated on a bright, sunny morning in late July

on the grounds of BLIND, Incorporated. Joyce Scanlan, Carl and Danelle Nelson,

along with staff, students, and other members of the Federation planted a Minnesota

red bud tree and consecrated the ground around it with a rock garden at its

base. A sacred spot is one dedicated to the memory of a spirit which has brought

love, generosity, and joy to others and which stands as a living memorial to

furthering that spirit. Brianna Nelson possessed such a spirit, and she loved

rocks, saying that the smooth ones were girls and the rough ones were boys.

Each member of the party assisting at the planting of the tree placed a stone

at its base with a memory or a reflection about Brianna Nelson. The Minnesota

red bud blossoms each spring and lives in the demanding climate of the north.

The tenacity of this plant will carry the spirit of Brianna Nelson into the

decades to come.

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