Bryanspeak

Assembling the ingredients to make "turtles", Grandma's favorite candy. Bryan is a man of habit. Of ritual. Of sameness. Of upholding tradition be it at the holidays or other times of the year. When I approached him to see if he would be game for changing up his yearly pretzel candy for a new type,…

The chef with his pumpkin cookies.. Bryan stood at our kitchen table Thanksgiving morning, dressed and ready to head to western PA to celebrate with his mom and dad, aunt, uncle, grandma, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Before diving into his scrambled egg breakfast, he outlined all of the things for which he was thankful ....…

Bryan's first attempt at firing a handgun. Last weekend Bryan and his dad went up to the wilds of Lycoming County to the Otter Run Hunting and Fishing Club cabin which we've been traveling to for around twenty years or more, invited by our family who are members. He hasn't been able to go for…

Driving home from western Pennsylvania where I had spent a weekend with my mother, I marveled the length of my turnpike drive at the beauty of the fall foliage along that well-traveled thoroughfare. I've been traveling that journey for most of my life. The four and a half hour trip can be quite boring at…

https://videopress.com/v/LAg12K3h?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Bryan singing the National Anthem at the Local Special Olympics Meet. Last week we had a Revelation. An exhausted older mother and her Down Syndrome daughter met with us in Bryan's apartment to discuss Bryan's Life Sharing experience - an avenue she wishes to pursue for her child. Frustrated by the system, she wants…

Aerial view of our island paradise - Mitchells Sand castles - wiped out by Hurricane Ian. Our cottage stood in the center of the sand wash across from the barely-visible swimming pool. Last March, I reminisced about the wonderful two weeks we spent with Bryan on Sanibel Island. It was a time in his life…

Bryan and Coach in the early days. Bryan has participated in Special Olympics with the same coach now for some twenty to thirty years. She is known affectionately as "Coach Joan" and has been affiliated with Special Olympics in the United States since it's founding by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968. As an octogenarian, Coach…

Uncle Bryan feeding nephew Finn for the first time. This past week the whole family traveled to Avalon, New Jersey to vacation together with the newest addition to the family - Finley Bryan. As Bryan calls him - "my namesake". Bryan wanted to give Finn his bottle shortly after we arrived. Finn cooperated pretty well,…

Father Bryan Bryan would probably be comfortable in any church setting on a Sunday morning. He is a member of two congregations right now, neither of which he attends physically. I think he misses it. Covid put a stop to that for two-plus years. This past Sunday, I played at an Episcopal church in Doylestown.…

Full and empty water bottles clog Bryan's deck at his apartment. Last week we had our obligatory monthly monitoring meeting for Bryan live at his apartment - the first time since the pandemic began. Yes, we have been there at Bryan's place in the past two years, but the blinds to the deck area have…