It is hard to believe that 10 years ago, with your generous support, we began the hard work in Dong Ha to help empower the most vulnerable members of society and to honor Landon’s memory.
10 years is a very long time.
We no longer look anything like we do in these pictures, but they very much capture Landon’s energy and spirit at a moment in time; small catalytic totems which we can return to that inspire us all to keep this going for another 10 years, and the 10 years beyond that…
I have lived in Dubai for the past 10 years, and in that time I married Maya Whiteley, became a father to Dries and Lozen, and adopted four huge dogs! Living here has allowed me to explore the Middle East, North Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, visiting war-torn cities like Juba, teeming capitals like Algiers, and frontier outposts like Erbil.
That seems like a lot to have accomplished in the past 10 years, until you fully grasp what the Landon Carter Schmitt Fund has achieved, driven by my parents' love and unerring resolve, and with your unwavering support.
Every year on his birthday, in the Vietnamese tradition, we celebrate Landon’s life, lighting incense, silently reflecting, and providing Landon with anything he might be missing (there is usually a tumbler of bourbon…). My son and daughter speak aloud anything that might come to mind that they wish to address to Uncle Landon, a man whom they have never met, who remains a tangible part of their lives and whom they love.
“Happy Birthday, Uncle Landon, I love you so much, I wish you could be in my home, I give you lots of candy, and chocolate coins, your favorite…”
My son shares Landon’s name and my daughter exhibits traits of his fearlessness. I see him in them, and in turn them in him.
As memories of those we have physically lost become cloudlike over time, these photos, the stories we tell our children, the work done in Landon’s name to make children’s lives better, and your generosity which continues to inspire bigger challenges and larger dreams, become those vehicles through which we create new memories.
The energy that Landon brought to every relationship he had, and to every room he entered is alive and well through his foundation, and the last 10 year’s accomplishments have been nothing short of miraculous for the people they touch on a day to day basis.
I will never be relieved of a haunting sadness for my brother, but I am not looking for relief. I am looking for resilience, and that is what the Landon Carter Schmitt Foundation is all about; fostering resilience in those whom society often overlooks, and in doing so generating new memories inspired by Landon that we can all hang on to, because we have created them together.
Please join us in celebrating our shared accomplishments over the past 10 years by laying the foundation for the next 10 years.
