In 1998, Diana Brannon, her husband and her 15-year-old stepdaughter were living in Houston. She ran a successful media buying and planning company, while her husband was the head of a small ad agency. Life had its stresses, but, for the most part, theirs was the kind of life most any of us could relate to.
Then, in 1998, all that changed.
Diana's stepdaughter was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
Unable to deal with the trauma and grief of losing his daughter, Diana's husband fell into a dependency on alcohol and drugs, leading to the breakup of their marriage.
Without money, without her business or her husband, Diana left Houston for West Texas and the support of family and friends. Building a new business there, she set about getting back on her feet financially and emotionally.
Over time, her former husband sought help, got sober and the two reconciled. He, too, left Houston for West Texas, found a new career with a radio station in Abilene and began to rebuild his life along with Diana.
In a perfect world, the story would have ended there. But happy endings aren't as easy to come by as they once were.
Driving home from a promotional event for the radio station in April 1999, Diana and her husband were involved in an accident. Her husband was killed. Knowing her financial situation, a number of her many friends back in Houston, and elsewhere, became involved and enlisted the help of the DREAM Fund.
Worried about how she would pay her husband's funeral expenses, Diana's problems seemed to just keep coming. Then, on the same afternoon the bill from the funeral home arrived, a check also came from the DREAM Fund.
The check amount was within ten dollars of the $6,000 bill.