​           When friends and family think of Abi, we tend to conjure up images of a young woman with smiling eyes, a wild and free spirit, and an always playful demeanor that exudes warmth and invites friendship. We see her singing, dancing, making music, eagerly learning and readily teaching. We usually envision her outside and we always see her drawing the most out of every moment.



            For Abi, it is simply presumed that we will all pursue our dreams, that we will rise to challenges great and small and that we will prove resilient. For those of us who know and love Abi, her expectation that we can and will realize our gifts and leave this world better than found it, can be both daunting and affirming. It is daunting because the work is so big and it is affirming because Abi never seems to doubt that we're up for it.



       Abi's path through life lead her through various projects including disaster relief, building projects, outdoor education, and varied farming projects. In the past several years, Abi spent most of her time exploring agricultural methods that improve communities. For most of 2012, Abi was committed to developing a network that would ultimately address agricultural solutions through appropriate technology. Her vision was to empower people with minimal resources by sharing ideas, technology, and designs that could address some of their specific needs.

           

     On the morning of September 18th, 2012, Abi left her home - a yurt perched on a low ridge along the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains - heading to Berea College where she was enrolled as a Technology major. Abi's drive to town traversed a gracefully changing landscape where the Cumberland Plateau drops down into a foothill region known as the Knobs. It was raining and only a few miles from town, heading towards school, Abi's vehicle skidded off the road and into a telephone pole.