Monthly Archives: March 2017

Going Viral

Posted on by
Reply

Social media is a funny thing. I love reading stories on line- sometime it’s a nice break from the “news.” I also like sharing stories about the kids, thought lately Aidan has asked me to do so less.

We were very proud of Brendan’s work on his Audra McDonald project – the time he put into it and the enthusiasm he had about the project. Homework is not something he loves but this project was fun for him. I posted on my social media accounts the day he presented his project at school.

More than just being proud of him, we were proud that he goes to a school that loves and accepts him and that he felt comfortable being who he is. It got a lot of likes and shares. Including by Audra McDonald.

And then it became a story on the Huffington Post Parents site.

And then the story was tweeted by Chelsea Clinton.

And then Chelsea’s message (and the story) were re-tweeted by Audra McDonald.

The messages, shares, retweets and likes from friends as well as people we didn’t even know started. Almost all of them were kind. We looked through them amazed at how fast the story traveled and how many people applauded Brendan and his school.

Then PopSugar reached out and wanted to do their own piece saying that they had a small clip of Audra McDonald talking about Brendan’s story. Truly remarkable.

Chris and I had planned the New York trip a couple weeks before. But it happened to coincide with the two stories. When we went backstage a few actors talked to Brendan about it. He couldn’t believe they knew who he was.

A couple days later the lead actor from the King and I reached out inviting our family to the show and backstage to meet the cast.

The TV show The Chew contacted me when they planned to have Audra McDonald on to ask permission to use Brendan’s picture (she ended up missing the appearance because she had the flu).

We are still in awe looking back at the kind messages. I copied and pasted them all in a document for Brendan to have, and especially from the theater community- including several local theater companies. I read names attached to messages to Brendan as his eye got wider and wider, beaming with pride that such remarkable people he admires took time to acknowledge his project. Brendan is truly blessed to have so much love and support.

Never doubt there are good people in the world.

3.14

Posted on by
Reply

Aidan has loved Pi Day since he first found out about the “geek holiday.”

It’s also Einstein’s birthday.

This year something else special happened on Pi Day  (besides a second snow day) – he received his acceptance to Boston Latin School, Class of 2023.

We are so proud and excited for him!

New York

Posted on by
Reply

Instead of a 9th birthday party (back in June!) Brendan asked if we could go to New York and go to a Broadway show- a first for all four of us. It was a great idea except for the coordinating four schedules part of it! But we finally found a weekend that would work.

Brendan had been to New York a couple of times for auditions. He was offered an audition spot for a Saturday and it seemed like the start were finally aligning that we could make a weekend of it. He thought we were just going for the day. When the kids got home from school Friday- we told them to park their bags we were heading out. And we had a surprise for each of them- tickets to Kinky Boots for all of us, and a planned trip to the Nintendo store/museum for Aidan.

Traveling with kids and technology is glorious. It was a mostly quiet ride in the snow. We stopped at Sonic- a fun favorite- and arrived just in time for bedtime.

On Saturday it was freezing. We walked around Time Square. We visited the M&M store, the Disney Store and saw where Brendan’s friend would be performing in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Then it was time for Bren to get ready for his audition. While he was at the audition, Aidan and Chris went to the Nintendo store/museum and the Lego store. Bren did great and was invited to a call back later in the afternoon. While we waited we had lunch at the Had Rock Cafe.

Bren wasn’t chosen as one of the final two kids, but he still had a lot of fun meeting other kids and rehearsing lines with a British accent. We rested up a bit and then got ready to head out to Kinky Boots.

We had great seats and Bren got a T shirt. At intermission he asked if we could go to the stage door to possibly meet actors. It was the first weekend one of the leads was performing and he recognized another of the actresses from Peter Pan Live. Chris and I agreed and went outside after the show- only to surprise him by getting in the line to go back stage! After seeing my post about going, Wendy (Show Boat’s choreographer), contacted an old friend in the cast to show us around! Again I say, never underestimate how kind people are.

What a time we had! We met several actors (including the one Bren was hoping to see). Bren learned how to do a “proper stage bow” from one of the leading actors, and he compared notes with one of the Angels about his drag performance and Brendan’s Audra costume. Plus we looked around backstage and saw sets and props.  How lucky for this to be our first time at a Broadway show! And what a show it was! It was so good, had a great message and we’ve been listening to the soundtrack since!

We took a family picture in Time Square to remember our quick trip. All of us couldn’t believe how much fun and how exciting the weekend was. We left early Sunday morning to head back home and decided we would make this kind of trip again!