Celebrating Diane

22 years ago today, my youngest sister, Diane (Joy Bandstra), was killed in a car accident. She was 21 years old and was planning to complete her senior year at Dordt College majoring in elementary education. Sometimes I wonder...what would Diane be doing now? Would she be a wife and a mom? Would she still be teaching? Would she live nearby or a long ways away?

Diane loved life. She was vibrant, fun, loving. She got involved in everything.

Our oldest son was only 3 when she died. She absolutely loved Joshua and some of my fondest memories are of her playing with him.

Diane with Joshua.

She loved people without judgement and her sudden death impacted many young people causing them to renew their relationship with God.

She loved music and was an incredible vocalist. She was always singing; while mowing the lawn, around the house, in churches, schools and solos for Dordt College.

Above all, Diane loved God. This was evident in her life and in her conversations. It was evident in her Bible.

Even today, we hear stories about Diane. Recently, our family received the gift of another memory. In memory of her today, I would like to share a portion of this letter.

This comes from one of Diane's former professors at Dordt College:
The incident took place on a ten-day Rep Theatre tour, and the event illustrates a number of Diane's traits that made her a charming, engaging person. Our group that year comprised about twelve students and myself. 
  
We had left Dordt shortly after the May graduation ceremony concluded, traveling in a fifteen-passenger college van, and pulling a large tandem-axle trailer that contained our sets, lighting equipment, sound system, tools, and luggage. Whereas I don’t recall our first performance sites (we may have performed in Pella, the Chicago area, and possibly in Wisconsin), the incident took place mid-tour in southwestern Canada.  

 A typical performance would include driving to a Christian high school; setting up the sets, lighting equipment, and sound equipment that evening; and staying in hosts’ homes or a motel that night. Early the next morning, we would perform a show, do acting and makeup workshops, strike the set, pack up, and hustle to the next site where we would repeat all those activities. Occasionally we had a free day for a little sightseeing, but most days included one or two shows plus travel. In brief, the rhythm was demanding, and each person had to know his or her job, and do it well. We could not afford packing or loading mistakes, errors running cables, misplaced tools, or forgotten luggage. But throughout this regiment, Diane was a trooper, whether the task was lugging equipment, illustrating makeup techniques, or performing with style and grace. She did it all, and she did it well. 

One day, we had done a show in Ancaster, and we were on the jam-packed 401 (Queen’s Expressway), heading for a performance the following day at Toronto Christian High School.  Our schedule was tight because we needed to reach the school and set up before the school staff left the building. In normal driving conditions, that would have been very doable. But what we experienced—four or six lanes of bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-creep traffic—made travel dangerous, tense, and uncomfortable on this very hot afternoon when the van’s air conditioner proved inadequate. The Canadian (or Ontario) government had recently instituted the GST tax, which Canadian truckers had to pay for their fuel, but U.S. truckers did not have to pay,  thereby making Canadian truckers less competitive in their own country. As a result, many were frustrated, and some were angry—angry enough to create the mother-of-all traffic jams on this blistering afternoon on the 401. As you might imagine, the jam and heat made some other travelers frustrated and/or angry as well.  

On a number of occasions, in this hot and tense atmosphere, traffic stopped altogether, one or more drivers got out of their trucks, walked over to another truck, and visited with its driver. On one lengthy stop, to cope with the heat and boredom, the Rep group had opened the van’s windows, passenger door, and rear doors. Some were stretched out on the seats, others had legs or torsos protruding out of the windows or doors, and a few were sitting on the trailer hitch or on top of the van.  And that’s when it happened: I heard this clear, wren-like voice sing out a fresh, playful, carefree melody that danced through the tension and heat. If I recall correctly, Diane was on top of the van, and first she sang alone. Then, one-by-one, other students joined in, and soon they filled the hot air with joyful music. As they sang, the truckers around us stopped talking, watched, and listened. When this impromptu mini-concert concluded, the truckers applauded, and the tension seemed to have lifted. Then they got back in their vehicles, the Rep group got in ours, and soon we were all moving again, slowly, but uplifted and moving. 

While I remember other good things about that trip, about Diane’s work in Rep Theatre that semester, or about the conversations that we had regarding course selections and career plans, that memory personifies the others. Diane loved God, loved her family, and sought to live obediently. One of the ways she did that was by using her creativity, spontaneity, and strong will to sing joy into the lives of others. Whereas I had the privilege of working with many wonderful students during my 1977-1992 tenure at Dordt, Diane continues to stand out as one of the best. Along with you, I still miss her.