Air National Guard Technical Sergeant Gregory S. died in a plane crash leaving behind his wife and two children. For his daughter, Sheridan, the biggest challenge has been growing up without her dad.
“There are times when I really want him at things that my friends’ dads are at, and that's when it hits me,” explained Sheridan. “I'll never have him here to see me graduate, get married, or when my kids are born. It's not the memories I had with him that make it hard, but the ones I never got to have.”
Sheridan has grown from the “little, blonde mess” (a nickname her father bestowed upon her) into an accomplished scholar at Randolph-Macon University where she is studying Business Management with the aid of Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation.
“Fallen Patriots has impacted my life in a way that I didn’t think it would. The foundation has gone to the end of the world and back to make sure I was taken care of financially throughout college – from being a Johnny Mac Scholar, coming to support me at the Yuengling Marathon, and so much more. Fallen Patriots makes me want to give back to them what it has given me.”
On March 18, Sheridan will be running the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA. For the past few months, she has been raising money for Fallen Patriots and had hoped to reach her goal of $3,500. Remarkably, she has already reached her goal but is still taking donations. Sheridan’s donation page is available here.
“Be grateful,” advises Sheridan to other Gold Star scholars. “Never take anyone in your life for granted. If there's anything you learn by being a military child, it's that you never know when you could lose someone who means the world to you.”