Karate Student Linda Morgan Passes Away

To the Family and Friends of Linda,
My family and all of us at the Passage of Knowledge Martial Arts Center are so extremely sorry for your loss.  You have our deepest sympathies and our thoughts and prayers are with you! 

They say life is measured by the moments that take your breath away.  Sometimes having one of those moments can be so heart breaking that you cannot find the words.  This was the case yesterday as I received a call on my way home from work about Linda.  Linda Morgan at age 16 died in a terrible automobile accident.  According to the Hartford City News Times she was a passenger in a truck traveling down Indiana 18 when the accident occured.  She had apparently taken off her seat belt to remove her coat when control of the truck was lost resulting in her death.

When I first met Linda her mom had brought her to the dojo to get more information.  Linda, a beautiful young lady with a quick wit was (to put it nicely) not at all interested in Martial Arts.  As I spoke with her mom, Linda would roll her eyes, she would look towards the front door, or anything else to basically not participate in the conversation.  When the opportunity arose during the conversation to which I could use some wit or other wise pick on Linda I did and began to get a feel for her personality.

Linda joined the dojo, and because of her disinterest in Martial Arts I decided I would work with her one on one for a few classes.  This isn't normally what happens but I felt like it was important for Linda and I wanted to get to know her better.  The first class went well.  Linda was alert, had high spirits, tried real hard, and strangely enough had a great attitude.  By the end of the second class she told me that I was never getting rid of her.  Those words brought a smile to my face then and a tear to my eye as I reflect back on it now.

Over the next month or so Linda showed up for class like clock work.  She always seemed happy and was always eager to take on whatever we had planned for class.  She liked watching the other students run the form they were working on and she wanted to be able to look like the other students.  Students that had been training for two or three months already.  And I have to say in about a months time Linda was looking pretty sharp doing technique.

In 2005 when I met Renshi Berrier he asked me why I wanted to do Martial Arts.  Part of my response was that I wanted to run a Martial Arts School at some point.  I wanted to be able to help people.  See, I love hearing the old war and combat stories about past masters, I love reading and studying how devistating a particular technique can be, I love researching new ways to get an edge on an opponent but to me Martial Arts truly is about one thing......becoming a better person.  As a Martial Arts instructor I want to pass on that desire to become a better person, I want to help people, I want to enrich their lives, and at a minimum I want to give them a sense of belonging.

It is because of people like Linda Morgan that I operate a Martial Arts School.  Watching her go from that young lady who was a bit stand offish and didn't want to be there to a young lady with a smile on her face and the determination to succeed is what it is about.

I will miss the quick wit.  I will miss the giggles in the back ground.  I will miss the little noises she made when she did something wrong or silly.  I will miss hearing how I will never get rid of her.  But mostly I will miss seeing her smile.