After three years hiatus, Bryan was once again invited to participate in the Summer Special Olympics Games at Penn State University in June. Last year he was unable to participate due to his extended recovery from a severe case of pneumonia for which he was hospitalized. The year before he traveled the three and a half hours north to compete, only to be turned away upon arrival in Happy Valley. The Canadian wildfire smoke caused a last-minute cancellation of the games due to unhealthy conditions. Riding seven hours up and back in a bus just to eat a bag lunch was not Bryan’s idea of fun!

Having been absent from the festivities since 2023 made this year all the sweeter. At the opening ceremonies in Beaver Stadium the first night, Bryan was thrilled when the Nittany Lion came over to personally say “hello”, high-fiving him in the process. His broad smile in the picture above says it all. When the coach sent that picture, I was so happy to see the Bryan Grin which has been largely absent from his face in recent months.

A first this year was a string of texts which came from my son, giving me updates on the games. He’s never done that before. The first one, in “Bryanspeak” read : “Hay, we go there at 11:08 but do so tomorrow I will sand more the comptons is tomorrow” . Translation : “Hey, we got here at 11:08. I will send more information tomorrow when I compete for the first time”.

True to his word, the next day I got a selfie of him at the Creamery, his favorite place on campus, having a cup of ice cream after the first day of competition. He then texted that he had received the gold medal for his 800 M racewalk and that his last two events were the next day.

“I’m got back home just now safe from Penn State” came to me once he arrived back on Saturday night. He then asked if he could stay home from church, to which I agreed. He was bushed!

The following day I got another texted picture of his one gold and two silvers arranged on his bed with the explanation of each medal – gold in 800M racewalk, silver in 100M racewalk and javelin throw with his pronouncement that all events “went fine”.

Even though we could not go to watch him compete in person, the running dialogue offered by Bryan’s texts were so welcomed and showed a willingness to communicate with me which is unusual for him. I’m so proud of his progress in the games and in his sharing the experience with us. Another milestone achieved even at the ripe-old age of 45!

At The Creamery..