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Brandon's Story 
Ryan and Brandon with Tom Glavine, our hero!
Hope is a thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings a tune without any words
and never stops at all
- Emily Dickenson
"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."
Arthur Ashe
"In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it." - Marianne Williamson
NEW PICTURES added 1/23
The FOURTH Annual A TRIBUTE TO OUR QUIET HEROES will be held on September 20, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead. Watch for details - www.quietheroes.org. Please email me if you'd like to volunteer to help!
Journal
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 10:02 PM CDT Just a week ago, I was empathetically chuckling at the thought of my dear friend DD Dixon (aka “Mary Grace’s mom”) snuffling and wiping tears as her very chic little girl boarded the bus for her first day of kindergarten. DD’s so funny – and I laughed as I read her recount of the morning.
NO WAY would I shed a tear when Brandon starts kindergarten, I thought. Why would I? He’s been going to school 5 days a week since he was 4! What makes it dramatic just because this year is kindergarten?!
I’m here to tell you that it just IS! I have no idea why, and I have no idea why all of a sudden, I have joined the club of blubbering moms who cry when their babies go off to kindergarten.
Tomorrow is Brandon’s first day of kindergarten. Tomorrow he will walk through the doors of St. Martin’s Episcopal School with his brother leading the way. It will no longer be “Ryan’s school.” The mere thought makes me dissolve into a weepy mess.
Ryan started at St. Martin’s also as a kindergartner. I remember the time very well. We were in count down mode when he started school. We were counting down to the fateful surgery Brandon would have to remove that tumor…the one that had tortured us for 2 years…the one that made us feel like we were living our lives waiting for the shoe to drop. We were a brand new family and we didn’t know a soul…and it was a peek time of stress for our family.
The teachers and administrators at St. Martin’s totally embraced us, and most importantly, they cared for Ryan’s tender heart with gentle compassion and understanding. They taught him well, and they loved him well – and they loved us well, too.
And tomorrow, we’ll walk back through those same doors, this time to deliver Brandon to HIS new school. I’ll be thinking about what a gift the day is…it could have been different, and I am so thankful that it is not.
I will try to hold my tears until I get out of the parking lot. I wouldn't want to embarass my 3rd grader who said tonight, "MOM! You are NOT walking me INSIDE tomorrow! No way!"
Love to you,
Kristin
Read Journal History
Links: http://www.caringbridge.org/ga/trentonsjourney Trenton Kindred's website
http://www.curechildhoodcancer.org
http://www.caringbridge.org/ga/catie Catie Wilkins' website
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