I cannot help but think of March a year ago—in March 2019 my son Tyler left us.

Tyler’s two wonderful daughters, Sarah and Danielle, are doing well.

Danielle is in her third year at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has earned the Dr. and Mrs. Tim D. Leon Scholarship through the chemistry department. Last year she held the William and Lillian Campbell Memorial Scholarship through the chemistry department and the Regent’s Scholarship.

She teaches dance—ballet, tap, and jazz—as well as choreography for a competition team. She danced for 15 years and competed throughout high school. Her team won first place at several competitions and once a year would travel to Des Moines to compete. During Danielle’s freshman year of high school they danced in the Capitol One Bowl halftime show, and her senior year her team danced in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Danielle also works at Charleston’s Restaurant either bartending or serving. She is a very busy, and also a very smart and pretty, young lady.

Sarah’s passion is photography, and she did the photos of the Prime Time models in "60 Plus" for the January/February issue. Now, she has taken a year off from school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sarah and her friend Julius Fredrick are following her dad’s proposed itinerary for a trip around the world while raising awareness about mental health and suicide prevention. Sarah is photographing the trip while Julius is writing articles. Future issues of Omaha Magazine will tell about the adventures. You can follow their journey at takegoodrisks.com. They started by taking the train to Chicago, then flew to New York and on to Casablanca, Morocco, North Africa. They plan to be back in Omaha for Christmas 2020. 

Tyler would be very proud of his daughters.  

“Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% what you do about it.”

—Tyler William Lemke

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This letter first appeared in the March/April 2020 edition of 60PLUS in Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.