In 1981 and 1982, while our son Jimmy was fighting his first battle with his dragon, I began to notice that Jimmy's fine motor skills and memorization skills were not what they once had been. In 1978, at the initial diagnosis of Jimmy's leukemia, Jimmy was able to say the alphabet and point to pictures that started with that sound. Jimmy was also able to complete complex puzzles with ease and little effort but over the next several years, Jimmy slowly was forgetting which pictures matched the letter. The puzzles that Jimmy has put together with so little effort were still the same puzzles. Jimmy had not advanced to a higher level. This caused Jimmy's father and I some concern because we had been told that Jimmy was cured of his disease. Would these learning difficulties, which had been caused by his chemotherapy, begin to resolve? Alternatively, was Jimmy going to have these problems all of his life and if so would this exceptionally bright young boy have a fulfilled and rewarding future?

To our disappointment, Jimmy's learning difficulties did not resolve. In fact, slowly over the years, we realized just how much damage the toxic chemicals had done to our son. It was with great reluctance and sorrow that my husband and I had to accept Jimmy would never be what he could have been before his illness. Jimmy's dreams and goals did not diminish over time. Due to Jimmy's multiple hospitalizations, there were many days Jimmy was too ill to go to school. This resulted in Jimmy falling further and further behind his peers. Eventually, Jimmy was enrolled in special education classes for reading and math but regular classes for all of his other subjects.

When Jimmy entered Junior High School, Jimmy, his father and I believed that he had defeated his dragon once again. Jimmy did not want his fellow students to know his history and wanted them to think he was just like them. Of course, Jimmy was still in special education and regular classes like other of his fellow students, who for some reason (ie., reading dyslexia, speech impediment, or the inability to remember) were in special education and regular classes.

As Jimmy completed the eighth grade, his dragon returned and he underwent a bone marrow transplant. Jimmy returned home victorious but a regimen of total body irradiation and chemotherapy had again ravaged his body. My husband and I both wondered how Jimmy would ever be able to find his unique god given talent and if we would have the funds to provide an environment for him to develop this talent thus enabling him to be a responsible, independent and contributing adult.

God had other plans for Jimmy who passed away at the age of 16. At the time of his death, Jimmy could only read at the fourth grade level and his ability in math was at the fifth grade level. Jimmy had found his special talent, It was art. But we questioned if we would have been able to fulfill Jimmy's dreams when he graduated.

So, After much soul searching, my husband and I started the Jimmy Dykes Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund would award four individual scholarships each year. A senior would receive a scholarship for $1,250.00. A sixth, seventh, and eighth grader would each receive a $250.00 scholarship. This would enable the individual to develop his/her talents. The sixth, seventh and eighth grade students are given the opportunity to take art lessons, music lessons, driving lessons, computer classes, and even classes at an area zoo to see if they would like to work in the animal field. The graduating seniors are awarded the scholarship to attend a vocational school or community college. These unique individuals would normally have been just one of the many.

To be awarded one of the scholarships, the student must be eligible for any other scholarships. The student does not have to have a grade point average of 3.0 to 4.0. What the student must possess is qualities of not giving into defeat, a positive attitude, good citizenship, and integrity, enrolled in special education classes and regular classes but most of all compassion for their fellow students, friends, and family.

Since 1997, the Jimmy Dykes Scholarship Fund has awarded over $8,000.00 in scholarships. Four graduating seniors have been given the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. In closing, one of Jimmy's favorite poem was the following:

Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die,

Life is a broken winged bird,

That cannot fly.

All students have dreams whether they are gifted, handicapped, considered slow, or stupid. By providing these scholarships, we hope to show these students that Everyone is special. I am sure that over the years, they have been called stupid and yet they most surely are not stupid. They are the caterpillars that given time, effort and patience turn into magnificent butterflies.

Our funds were raised through an annual bowl-a-thon.

We hope Jimmy's fund is able to continue providing scholarships to students for many years even after Jimmy's father and I are with him in a paragraph.