Everyone remembers where they were when they heard the harbinger of unfortunate news. For most students Sept. 11 was one of those days. Personally, I was sitting in my Geography class my freshmen year on Sept. 11th.
But it is not just national tragedies that become flashbulb memories. I also vividly remember June 24 last year, when I learned that my friend, mentor and Bible study leader, Dan Lowe, known as D-Lo
suddenly passed away. I was merging onto I-71 from highway 315 in Columbus. Not a good place for a small town boy to hear upsetting news.
That day, after the shock sunk in, I called almost everyone in my phone book just to hear my friends' voices. I even had to charge my cell phone battery three times because I was constantly talking to others shocked with grief. While talking to others about the good times, my college experience flashed back before me.
I met Dan at freshmen orientation on College Green at the Campus Crusade for Christ table. Little did I know how much of an impact this upper classman would make on my freshman and sophomore years at Ohio University - I immediately looked up to the 6 foot 9 inch guy. Dan made the college experience worthwhile for me and even got me to loosen up as a stiff, insecure freshman. Not every freshmen gets the opportunity to hang out with an upperclassman, especially one such as Dan. All of us guys would hang out at his Riverpark apartment and attend all the OU sporting events.
He passionately shared his opinion with anyone, whether a fellow student or the ref that made a bad call. Dan also loved hip-hop and formed a group called Eternal Perspective with his friends and recent alumni Tony Frabott, Bill Burke, and Jordan Roth and recorded an EP.
My freshman year would not have been the same without Dan. During my sophomore year, when I rushed my fraternity, he was there to encourage me, reminding me that sometimes life isn't ideal.
Even when he graduated spring of 2003, Dan just couldn't leave Athens. Working for the athletic department for OU was a perfect fit for him. When he died, it was startling to everyone. His funeral was surreal. We gathered for an unexpected funeral on a humid summer afternoon. Usually college friends are supposed to re-unite with one another at weddings, not at funerals.
Dan's family and friends will come together this weekend, like they did on his funeral, to celebrate his life. At halftime of the basketball game, there will be a tribute to the man who helped shape Ohio athletics, laid the foundation for the O-Zone and encouraged and touched so many lives on this campus. It was fitting for Dan to pass away in The Convo and even more fitting for a tribute to take place there. It just makes sense.
Seeing D-Lo's image on the back of the O-Zone shirt during the Pitt game was a reminder of the enthusiasm Dan felt about OU athletics. Rushing the field after the victory, I, along with my friends who knew him, knew that he was there with us in spirit.
Dan's sincere personality and sheer popularity made him one of the big men on campus. His unexpected death this past summer solidifies the saying, Only the good die young.
- Kenny Miles is a senior english major. Send him an e-mail at km391000@ohiou.edu. 17
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Kenny Miles
