Thank you Big Blue!
Blue is for Brady,
blue is for brain injury,
blue is for Swampscott...
a community whose heart is exponentially larger than its
square mile footprint on the map.
It has been four and a half months since my mama left her classroom in a hurry to meet me in the ER of Salem Hospital. Four and a half months since she started her day on the rug for morning meeting with her H1 friends, met her colleagues in the teachers' room for lunch, and was a daily part of the inspiring and positive energy that teachers and students fill the halls of Stanley School with. What a heart warming feeling to know that in four and a half months my mom has been physically absent from her classroom but she and her family have not been forgotten.
Outside of my extended family members that have lived my hospitalization every bit as much as my parents and I, it has been my mom's Swampscott colleagues that have been a constant support system for us all. From donations pouring in from all three elementary school staff members to help with daily costs and individuals anxiously checking in on new medical developments to thoughtful gifts for me and friendly faces consistently popping in to bring laughs to my mom and dad and snuggles to me, this amazing group of people has been beside us since my first day in the MGH PICU back on November 17th. My mom's Swampscott friends are a large part of the "Friends of Brady" group who organized such an amazing celebration for me in January and continually work to think of ways to support my family.
When my mom walked into Clarke School for the first time in September of 2004 she had no idea that she would be building a family alongside a career.
Beyond the teachers and staff of the Swampscott Public Schools the families of the community have reached out and made me feel so loved as well. Awesome cards from kids have cheered me, gift cards from families have bought my parents dinner, and Facebook messages make us all smile. A grandmother of my mom's former student sent me a stuffed manatee all the way from Florida and two fourth grade girls in my Grammy's class pooled their money to buy me a little stuffed tiger, just the perfect size for me to hold all on my own. Another fourth grade duo created a banner that every member of the school signed. They spent two weeks of their recess time to make sure that I have something cheery to look at each day in my room in Spaulding.
The Leaders' Club encouraged wearing "Blue for Brady" and as a result I have the physical therapy equipment I need to make progress when I return home. Perhaps one of the most touching gestures was a hand made card from a Clarke kindergartner sending me ten dollars, offering money of his very own to buy medicine to make me feel better.
While I could wish that I haven't spent now half of my life bouncing around hospitals, how can I feel anything but so very blessed by the incredible love and support that has gotten me to where I am today.
Last night my Grampy Hogan spent the evening with me at Spaulding. He would have loved to have gone out with the rest of the family but it was important that my parents, and my Grammy Hogan and Auntie Liz Snider who are part of the Swampscott school communities daily, see all the love that Big Blue has for me. Swampscott has already done so many things for me, big and small, but yet the community continues to go above and beyond for me by holding this "Big Blue for Brady"event. Countless hours were put in by Stanley parents and teachers... for me. I am anxious to be home again to spend time outside of the hospital with the Swampscott teachers that have become like relatives to me and to meet all of the special people who didn't feel the need to meet a little boy before stepping up to do something big for him.
So many people go off to work daily to only do just that: work. How lucky my mama is to have a work place that is like coming home to another family of people who care about you, the whole you, and make it a priority to do all they possibly can to pitch in during trying times.
And me? What good fortune to be born into this wide circle of people who are so very caring. Thank you, teachers... Thank you, students... Thank you, parents... Thank you, Big Blue.
Love and Gratitude always,
Brady
