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SHARING A STORY...

​           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. 



 

 

 

 

     Though Abi came out of the accident alive, she suffered from traumatic brain injuries impacting her ability to speak, her memory, and basic motor skills. She was unable to carry on with her work of building community-based food systems, of living and loving and alleviating suffering in the many ways that she once did.
 

   In dealing with this tragedy, our love for her only deepened as we entered into a new journey with her after the accident. 

 

Abi passed from us on May 20, 2016 after a final struggle with a serious case of pneumonia. Her friends and family are still inspired by her life and vision and are committed to pursue the goals she had hoped to complete in her own life.

 

Alongside remembering her passion for sustainable technology, skill-sharing, and passionate living, over the recent years we have also developed our own goals, which include supporting others experiencing their own traumatic brain injury journey. We endeavor to grow a supportive network as we weave Ab's passion and vision with our own experiences in loving Abi after her injury.

 

We desire Partnering With Abi to be something that honors Abi's beautiful life.

 

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