OSU

Living in Stillwater will always be a time in our lives that we will cherish and remember forever. We would still be living there if it weren't for family. This year was the 10 year anniversary for the 10 who died in a plane crash when the men's basketball team was flying home from Colorado. Unfortunately, Thursday night another plane crash occurred and killed the women's basketball head coach, Kurt Budke and assistant coach, Miranda Serna.

The OSU community has a sense of pride that is amazing. When our family would come to visit, one of the first things they would say was that everyone wears orange and the city is orange. I'm sure the streets are full of even more orange in respect to the tragic deaths that took place on Thursday. I never personally met Coach Budke, but whenever I did pass him in Gallagher-Iba Arena he would say hello even though he didn't know who I was. Brad has great memories of him and his assistant. Brad said that Coach Budke would always call him by name and check up on him and see how everything was going. Brad was able to help Coach Serna with possible recruits from CSI. He talks very highly of them and they will truly be missed. As mentioned in the video, they were more than basketball coaches, they were mentors and great people. I just pray that the great people of OSU can make it through this hard time once again, especially the family members of the coaches. I'm also thinking of the psychiatrist, Dr. Gentry, that I worked for at OSU's Wellness Center. I'm sure he is going to be even more booked than usual and I would not want to be in his shoes. As a member of the LDS church, I have my personal beliefs on death and so I am very grateful to have a sense of calmness and surety that we all have the opportunity to be with our families forever.