Seed Money

It’s no secret that I think about my little brother Mipps a lot, but August finds me especially melancholy because it marks the anniversary of the saddest day of our lives, the day he died.

Today, I’m thinking back 13 years, to a conversation I had with him at our pool when he came for a visit. I blogged the entire account back in 2011 {here}. Here’s a portion of the letter that came in the mail a few weeks later.

Seed money. Hmmmm. I’d not heard that term before, but I liked the idea behind it, to help put some skin in the game, if you will. Jacob did end up matching his FUNcle’s funds and ended up having a great time in Germany.

So I’ve decided that I’m starting a Seed-Money Scholarship with the proceeds from our book. In fact, I’ve already chosen our first recipient, an incoming senior in high school whose passion is infectious, whose work ethic is inspiring, and who shows up positively vivacious, wherever she goes. Simply put, she reminds me of Mipps.

So here’s how it’s going to work. I sent the first installment to her via Venmo today. When she works to earn a matching amount, I will send her the next installment. It’s that easy! If book sales don’t keep up, no worries; she’ll still receive her full scholarship.

I cannot wait to see the fruits of our investment in this compassionate, driven world-changer.

Oh, and, for fun as I work to keep sadness at bay, I recorded a read-aloud of the book, so you, dear reader, could hear it aloud how I heard it in my head when I was writing it.

Happy reading!