Everyone aspires to fulfill a lifelong dream.

For Judy Veron, despite family commitments and personal health issues, those aspirations appear to be very much on track.A Coaldale resident, Judy is inspired by the career of her late mother, Bernice Henry, who she remembers as being a kind and caring registered nurse in Key West, Fla."My lifelong dream is to become a nurse, just like my mother," Judy said in her first words of an application essay earlier this year to the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania (NAP) selection committee.The committee members obviously liked Judy's passion, and background, selecting her to receive NAP's 2011 licensed practical nurse scholarship."I was thrilled," Judy said of her selection.A review of her essay told why. In it, she explained both she and her daughter, Julia, a 2009 graduate of Panther Valley High School, are on journeys which she says "could not make my mother more proud."In her pursuit, Judy has endured difficult challenges from motherhood to cancer, to health issues of her husband, Joseph. Despite those difficulties, she exudes a zeal for her goal, always with her mother in mind. Bernice died in 1970 at the age of 41, succumbing to cancer when Judy was just 10.After her passing, the Florida Nurses Association Chapter of the Florida Keys recognized her commitment to the profession by presenting the Bernice Henry Award annually to a Florida Keys Community College nursing program graduate who demonstrated leadership and professionalism in the field."I do remember she (Bernice) was a nurse highly respected and who was dedicated to nursing and education," said Penni Wise, MSN, RN, a Henry award winner and current associate professor of nursing at FKCC.To this day, Judy remembers going to work with her mother at the Monroe County Hospital in Key West, where as a little girl she became acclimated to a geriatric setting as she wandered about the facility. She said that experience allowed her to realize early in life just how meaningful the small gift of time was to someone."Even though my personal memories of my mother are limited, she continues to influence my life," Judy said. "I will always carry her very essence with me and it is her spirit I spread throughout my own nursing career."Judy's story is no ordinary one. A 1977 graduate of Weatherly Area High School, she was married at age 19 to a long-distance truck driver, her career goal was initially set aside with family responsibilities of raising three children (Jeanine, Justin and Julia)."I immersed myself into raising our family, ultimately becoming the bread-winner when my husband suffered three heart attacks and could no longer work," she said.She initially worked as a nurse's aide in a nursing home, and later became an employee of the County of Carbon, where at its former nursing home, Weatherwood, she continued her "love of being a caregiver." Due to economic needs, she stepped out of the medical field to become the county's mail postage coordinator. Still, Judy was known among her peers as a kind and compassionate co-worker."I found Judy to be conscientious and a dedicated employee," said Betty Smith, the home's former administrator. "She was well-liked by the residents she cared for and her fellow employees. She performed her duties well and always went above and beyond what was required. Judy always has a positive attitude and is eager to learn."That eagerness compelled Judy to return to her nursing degree pursuits. At the same time, Julia, upon graduation, decided to become a nurse too.But tragic personal health issues soon slowed Judy's journey. She was diagnosed with breast cancer that necessitated bilateral mastectomies, chemotherapy and radiation.Her oldest daughter (Jeanine Snyder) "stepped into my parental role," Judy remembered.At a time when Jeanine was helping her younger sister file paperwork for the FAFSA (the federal financial aid program), she also did the same for her mother, inspiring her to continue her nursing career."It took little persuasion for me to realize it was time to fulfill my lifelong dream," she said.With surgery and therapeutic treatments completed, she applied for and was accepted to the LPN program at Penn State, Hazleton Campus, where she attends part-time while still juggling the time demands of a wife, mother, grandmother and full-time employee.According to Laura Jones, R.N., M.S., her clinical instructor at PSU, Judy delivered the highest quality patient care through her college pursuits."She possessed superlative critical thinking abilities, way beyond the expected level of a first-semester clinical student," Jones said of Judy. "She was also very caring, gentle, compassionate, conscientious and professional at all times."She predicts Judy will make an excellent nurse when her training is completed.In her "spare" time, Judy remains an activist on behalf of others, participating in activities such as breast cancer awareness endeavors and an annual walk to help provide support for Alzheimer's disease victims and studies of the illness. Last fall, she designed and helped make possible a float entry in an area Halloween Parade as part of the Relay for Life program, donating the winning prize to the American Cancer Society.When she travels to Camp Hill on Nov. 4 to accept the Nightingale Award, Judy will join a group of instructors and representatives from PSU who will be there to see one of their own be honored. When they invited Judy to join their table and bring a guest, she selected her 80-year-old aunt, Jean Henry, R.N., of York, her mother's cousin, because of the bond they share to Judy's late mother.The honor of being commended for her academic achievement, leadership potential, community service and personal commitment to the profession of nursing - the criteria utilized by NAP in selecting the foundation's scholarship winners - is special to Judy.But she will be there representing the spirit of her mother Bernice, who, Judy proclaims, "was a wonderful nurse."It's that kind of title Judy Veron would be proud to attain for her own life.