We’re taking off to go spend some quality time with our families in the St. Louis and Milwaukee areas over the days ahead, and I thought I’d make a quick nod to one of the people I’m most thankful for, my big brother, Scott Darnell. Scott and his partner David Gotter established a company in 2003 named Further OPTIONS, as a developer of innovative mobility systems for wheelchair-bound individuals. After debuting its first product at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the company’s Patent-pending DMS-4 was unveiled at the 2009 National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association Annual Conference, where it was honored by NMEDA and the Adaptive Driving Alliance with their 2009 New Technology Award for Innovation in Engineering and Technology for the physically challenged.
Scott had a diving accident back in 1991, but every day, he shows us all what a motivated human being is capable of achieving under the most challenging of circumstances. My 5-year-old son Riley wants to grow up to be an inventor, just like his Uncle Scott.
I wrote this poem for Scott and posted it on my personal site back in February of this year, before joining Scott, David and others at the NMEDA Conference, where they brought home the ADA Award. As Further OPTIONS gets up to speed, it is starting to make a huge impact in the lives of many individuals. What Scott, David and their colleagues are achieving is truly wonderful, and at this time of year when I am counting so many blessings, I thought my big brother was the best place to start.
Ramble #10 by Roger Darnell
Every step of my life, you have been here.
Our shared life experiences as siblings
is what made me want it for my children…
even with all we have been through, bro.
I really can’t imagine my life without there
being a big brother, and you being him.
And now, on the verge of you achieving
something monumentally spectacular and
completely self-driven, I am awestruck,
and exceedingly proud. Rock on.
Ja ist es aller die Phantastik