Sunday, January 18, 2009

the risk of love

The risk of love is loss,
and the price of loss is grief -
But the pain of grief
Is only a shadow
When compared with the pain
Of never risking love.

--Hilary Stanton Zunin, author

Three years ago today a 21 year old Milligan College student died suddenly and unexpectedly of heart failure. Steven Hunter transferred to Milligan his junior year as a history major and pre-law student. He fell in love with Appalachia, the mountains, hiking, bluegrass and fly fishing. He was the kind of student every professor loves to have in class: inquisitive, enthusiastic, serious. And yet you can't speak about Steven without remembering his playfulness. Yes, he took living seriously, but wasn't afraid to be silly; he was outgoing and fun, confident of who he was and what he believed. I remember his tears as well as his smiles and his laughter. His zeal for living was infectious. He loved Milligan and we all loved him back.

Say a prayer today for his parents, Mark and Virgie. You can read more about Steven and his parents here. Click here and here to read my previous posts about Steven and to watch video tributes.

Above: Two fly-fishermen on the South Holston River, one of Steven's favorite places.

2 comments:

  1. A perfect photo and quote for remembering Steven today. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for being so diligent in your memory of Steven. It helps to have company in this.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting and joining in the discussion on Appalachian Treks! Your comment will be sent to me to be approved. Sorry for this added step, but it is necessary to avoid spam. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!