A few years ago, Rebecca Marler and her husband, Lt. David Marler of McDowell County Sheriff’s Department, were typical parents riding the mega-family merry-go-round—shuttling kids back and forth to school, going to work, racing kids to sports and other activities, cooking, cleaning, sleeping, and getting up the next day to do it all over again. Throw in hiking, bowling and other family activities on the weekend, and life was about as complicated, busy—and simple—as family life gets.
In retrospect, it was the good life—a life to treasure and remember in a parent’s golden years.
But that world came crashing down in October of 2019, when the Marler’s oldest son, Colby Hendon II, died of a drug overdose. As with a lot of adult children who struggle to find their way in life, he had his share of troubles and an occasional brush with the law, but he was as loved as all of their children. But suddenly, he was gone. No second, third or fourth chances or a do-over to set things right or point him in a better direction. He. Was. Gone.
“I slept through most of the next 18 months or so,” said Rebecca. “It was hard… very hard.” To be fair, she still went to work and tried to make life as normal as possible for the couple’s three other children who were still at home, but she was mostly going through the motions—depressed, grieving and sleeping every chance she got.
But then one day, as she slumbered quietly, she heard a voice. To this day, she is not sure if it was the voice of her son, Colby, or God or whomever, but the voice was loud and clear: GET UP AND GET BUSY!
And so she responded to the command. She decided to pursue a dream of continuing her education to become a registered nurse (RN). “I guess that’s busy enough,” she said, and so it has been.
A Caring, Committed Nurse and Mother
In 2005, Rebecca had graduated from McDowell Technical Community College with a degree in Practical Nursing and passed licensure exams to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). Ever since then, she has worked as a geriatric nurse with institutionalized senior adults. Currently, she works first shift at Grace Ridge, a senior-adult retirement community in neighboring Morganton, NC.
After she started her nursing career and she and her husband began to plan for having a family, her earlier dream of continuing her education went on the backburner. “Life was busy,” she said. “And after we started having kids, I couldn’t afford to go back to school and didn’t have time to do it.”
Answering the Call
But after hearing the command of that voice—“GET UP AND GET BUSY!”—she decided to make it work. In the spring of 2021, she came back to McDowell Tech to take classes in Anatomy and Physiology and so forth, since it had been so long since she took them the first time. “I needed a refresher before I started the RN program.”
Last fall, she learned that she had been accepted into McDowell Tech’s LPN-to-RN Bridge program, and in January, she started her first classes in the program.
The Nell McMahan Nursing Scholarship
What came as a shock to her though, with the cost of raising kids and maintaining a household, was the high cost of nursing books these days–$1,300 up front. So she timidly reached out to the Financial Aid Office at McDowell Tech to see if she could get some help paying for her books. She filled out the necessary financial aid and scholarship forms, and to her surprise, she was awarded not only the Nell McMahan Nursing Scholarship to cover the cost of her books, but additional financial aid funds to help with her remaining instructional costs.
“I remember sitting in the floor crying when I got that letter,” she said. “I was in shock… but so very grateful.” She reached out to James “J.V.” McMahan, who started the Nell McMahan Scholarship fund in honor and memory of his wife following her death several years ago. She wrote him a very emotional and heart-felt thank you letter.
J.V., a retired McDowell Tech administrator and instructor, had cared for his wife for many years as her health was declining, but when he was no longer able to care for her at home, she spent the last seven years of her life as an Alzheimer’s patient at Autumn Care. Mr. McMahan visited her daily and was so impressed with the care Nell received at Autumn Care that when he created the scholarship fund at McDowell Tech, he decided that designating the fund for nursing scholarships was the best way to honor her and the people who cared for her during the last few years of her life.
Steve McMahan, one of J.V. and Nell’s sons, told his mom and dad’s story to members of the McDowell Technical Community College Foundation Board last week as a prelude to Mrs. Marler speaking to the board to thank board members and the McMahans for her nursing scholarships. Steve is a former chair of the college’s Foundation Board.
J.V., who is now 93, was unable to attend the board meeting, but Steve expressed how touched his dad was by Rebecca’s moving thank you letter, and how his dad had showed it to him with pride. In fact, he was so moved that Steve presented the Foundation Board with additional gifts to the scholarship fund from the McMahan family during the meeting.
“You don’t know how much this means to me and my family,” Rebecca told the group. “I want to be the best nurse I can for my little peeps, who I love so dearly. They deserve the best care that I can give them.”
“I love being a nurse,” she continued. “This is where I was meant to be. This is where God wants me to be. I will not let your generosity go to waste. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.”
Getting Really Busy
Rebecca admits that things have gotten REALLY busy for her in the nursing bridge program. In addition to classes and clinicals, she continues to work at Grace Ridge, continues to shuttle her kids to their activities–Logan to track meets and Caroline to chorus, band and volunteer activities (Cameron, her second oldest at age 20, is a Calvary Scout in the United States Army, stationed in Colorado Springs, CO.)—and it seems harder to learn at her age, she says. But she promises to make it work. It is important to her, and to whatever voice it was that commanded her to “GET UP AND GET BUSY!”
“We are thankful to the McMahan family for their generosity in establishing the Nell McMahan Nursing Scholarship,” said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, MTCC President. “Their gifts, and gifts from faculty, staff and friends of the college to other scholarship funds, make it possible for committed and caring students like Rebecca to be able to further their education and improve their family’s quality of life. More importantly, the advanced training Rebecca and other Bridge nursing students receive will directly benefit patients for whom they care. That was the vision J.V. McMahan had when he set up the Nell McMahan Nursing Scholarship Fund, and it is what drives our faculty and staff every day to provide high-quality, patient-focused nursing education at McDowell Tech.”
