Pearl Byrns' Memorial Scholarship- Year 5

“Storms make trees take deeper roots.” - Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton has had an incredible impact on our world and in the past nearly 30 years she has been focused on benefits to children. This has been in the form of her Imagination Library free book gifting program. Since 1995 when Imagination Library started, Dolly has given away millions of books (currently averaging $1M per month). Her quote makes me think of so many instances of adversity in my life and others I’ve known. Pearl Elizabeth Byrns showed all who knew her strength in the face of adversity, and that Dolly’s quote rings so true… storms in our lives make us stronger.

Pearl Elizabeth Byrns, 6-year-old miracle daughter of Sara and Tim Byrns of Two Harbors, Minnesota died just over five years ago on Tuesday, February 12, 2019.

Pearl was born in Duluth, Minnesota on March 23, 2012, with Patau Syndrome, a rare chromosomal disorder. Given Pearl's prenatal diagnosis, she was not expected to survive her birth, but she did. Once born, she statistically had a 90% chance of dying before age one, yet she lived. Against unbelievable odds, Pearl thrived for almost 7 years. Those years were filled with immense joy for all those who loved her.

Pearl benefited greatly from the expertise and services of so many fantastic medical and education professionals. On this anniversary of Pearl's passing, please help us ensure Pearl's legacy by supporting a scholarship to fund a Two Harbors graduating senior planning on studying (but not limited to) special education, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, audiology, teaching deaf/hard of hearing students, teaching visually impaired students, nursing, or a related medical degree. Last year the fund raised just over $2,500 with matching family funds and was able to provide multiple scholarships.

With other fundraising events, matching family funds, and your support here, we hope to grow our reach to supporting select college students in need studying speech, occupational, or physical therapy (also the assistants for each- SLPs, OTAs, PTAs). While I'm getting a late start in getting this campaign kicked off this year, I believe that we can create a strong showing of support as we finish this school year. With your support and the support of your family and friends, perhaps we can raise even more than last year!

All donated funds will be deposited into the memorial scholarship account.

Thank you! Your funds will build the capacity of the next generation of helping professionals.

I'm going to finish with this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh about love and nondiscrimination.

“In true love, there’s no more separation or discrimination. Her happiness is your happiness. Your suffering is his suffering. You can no longer say, ‘That’s your problem.’ In true love, both happiness and suffering are no longer individual matters. You are him and she is you. In a good relationship we are like two fingers on a hand. The little finger doesn’t suffer from an inferiority complex and say, ‘I’m so small. I wish I were as big as the thumb.’ The thumb doesn’t have a superiority complex, saying, ‘I’m more important. I’m the big brother of all of the fingers; you have to obey me.’ Instead, there’s a perfect collaboration between them.”

All my best,

Jason Hay (Sara's brother and Pearl's uncle)