H AN EVERYDAY HERO

Heroes to some are political leaders, sports figures, military leaders and great business innovators. To others a hero could be a coach, a police officer, a firefighter, someone who risked their life in a moment of extreme need by performing a courageous act. I believe there are heroes in our everyday lives that might be a neighbor, a school teacher, a youth leader, perhaps a parent or a supervisor or manager in the workplace. My hero is an individual who does not look for attention or recognition. My hero is an individual who is a teammate in our organization who is respected, admired by all and the type of teammate that we wish we had more of because she has so many positive attributes that make her very special. But her greatest role is not in the workplace; it is being a mom to a child with a unique challenge and as Melissa Christianson so aptly stated, "We don't have a 'special needs' child, we have a child with a unique set of special needs. Colton is a child first and we are blessed to help him with those special needs.”

Melissa started working with our company 13 years ago when we opened VISIONBank as a new banking organization. Melissa started her banking career as a full-time teller and accepted a number of promotions to her present posi- tion as Financial Reporting Analyst, performing a number of accounting duties and assisting with the funds management function. One of the qualities that Melissa prides herself on is her ability to take on the challenge of analyzing and understanding complex issues. She is relentless in tackling new issues and she will continue to drill deeper until she has a thorough understanding of the subject matter she is working on. Interesting that this quality of welcoming challenges coupled with her desire to grow by continually searching for knowledge and an understanding of issues would serve her well as she carried it into her primary role as Mom.

Melissa and her husband Kyle are parents to Caleb, age nine, and Colton, age five. As with all working parents, there is a constant pull in balancing career and being the best parents they can possibly be. Caleb is your typical, active nine-year-old with a baseball bat, hockey stick or a fishing pole close by just in case someone offers up the opportunity to engage in any of those activities which, I might add, are only a few of his many interests.

Colton is five years old and is like a lot of little boys; he has his favorite sport (basketball), he has his favorite foods (cottage cheese, pizza, and other things salty) and he likes to wrestle with his brother. He also has his own unique personality, as he is overwhelmingly funny and sweet. In addition, he has a strong will that shows he has a mind of his own and knows what he wants.

At the age of 13 months, Colton started having seizures. It has been three and a half years since he has had a day without a seizure. On a good day, Colton can have 20 seizures and on a tough day it could be as high as 50. At the onset, the Christiansons were searching the medical community for an explanation and the word "epilepsy" was not in their vocabulary, admittedly, because they were in denial of that being the term to describe what Colton was experiencing. Consider for a moment, as a young set of parents, with the hopes and dreams of every parent, the reality of your child having unexplainable seizures and trying to gain as much understanding as possible to deal with the decisions that needed to be made to treat his condition. The Christiansons, after consulting with medical experts at the Children's Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota and the Minnesota Epilepsy Group, decided to proceed with the recommended procedure that would separate the hemispheres of the brain to stop the seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to the other. The first surgery took place in January of 2014 and the second surgery was performed in April of the same year. The surgeries were successful in reducing the severity of the seizures. Colton has since been diagnosed with a rare disorder named Lennox Gaustaut Syndrome which is, by definition, a difficult to treat form of childhood-onset epilepsy.

Throughout the past five years, Melissa has never allowed her personal challenges to affect the continued progression of her career. She always has a positive disposition and her outlook is one of accepting the fact that her family will always be challenged with Colton's condition. She, of course, has her rough days and truly believes that the best thing that has happened for Colton is that she and Kyle have continued to work full time and allowed Colton to experience life beyond their immediate family. According to Melissa, “Colton is happyhis quality of life is as good as the people in his life. Colton's receptive form of communication is stronger than his expressive form of communication and, yet, we know when he is happy.”

Colton and his older brother have a special bond and it is partly due to the fact that Caleb had a good friend with special needs before Colton was born. Caleb learned early on how to accept someone's uniqueness. Caleb is very protective and devoted to his younger brother and the joy they share as brothers is evident to anyone who observes their interaction. "Ahbu" is Colton's way of saying "I love you.” As Melissa so appropriately said, “Every day is a challenge with Colton, but hearing an ‘Ahbu’ makes the most difficult days better.”

Melissa hopes that those who meet Colton are accepting of who he is. Her strength and acceptance of the challenges facing her family make her an inspiration and an incredible role model for everyone that knows her. Not everyone gets to see their hero every day, but I am very fortunate because I get to be inspired and interact with mine on a daily basis.