November 7, 2024
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Friends -
We are sending this incredible community a note as we approach the two-year mark since the death of our beloved Braylon and at a time when so many are feeling a range of difficult emotions. This note, like last year’s, is in part a note of thanks to all of you who have done so much to perpetuate Braylon’s legacy and to bring comfort and support to us. But, unlike last year, this is also a plea to our community to do all in our power to stop impaired driving. Now.
We have lost another beloved member of the W-L community, Nick Rados, to an accident that Arlington police say is attributable to this seemingly inexorable scourge. Nick was a young man with so much promise and such a community of support. A young man so much like Braylon. A young man whose legacy we must ensure endures. A young man who wore #22 as a tribute to his grandfather and to Braylon. A young man whose incredible parents, Lisa and Mike, are left without the love of their lives. We should not and, as a community, cannot permit more of the same.
​As we move into our second year without the empathetic, irreverent, genuine, and humorous Braylon, we continue to be amazed by the unbending support all of you provide. Since our last letter, had the pleasure of attending the First Annual Braylon Meade Basketball Classic, led by so many, including Coach Dobson, Mark Weiser, and Christy McIntyre. This event was supported by so many communities – Crowell & Moring, Arlington businesses and residents, clients across the country, and guests from afar. The Second Annual Braylon Meade Basketball Classic is just weeks away and our goals for the Second Classic are the same as the goals for the inaugural event. First, we want to honor Braylon’s hard work and love for the game by hosting five games (Girls’ and Boys’ games, alike) in the place he thought of as his second home, the WL gym. We are elated that the games will feature not just the W-L teams, but also Yorktown, in another show of community unity and support. Our second goal is to continue to build the scholarship funds in Braylon’s name, which we’ll address later.
We have also been blessed to experience the Second Annual Ginger Cup at Westfields, arranged primarily by Charlie Taylor and Jack Tsuchitani (with huge and wholly understated help from their parents and friends), which again featured 144 golfers (8 per hole) and a huge “observer” crowd for the celebratory dinner. Those two events, alone, yielded more than $50,000 for the scholarship funds in Braylon’s name. Several community sponsors have sponsored not just one of those events, but both, and many, many in our community contributed to both. Words simply cannot express our gratitude to all of you. But what touched us most is that hundreds of members of our community came together to celebrate Braylon and all that he represents at the Ginger Cup and at the Classic. Thank you, Charlie and Jack – your effort and commitment are incredible.
For the second year in a row, Christy and Rebecca Springer, a colleague of Kris’ at Crowell & Morning, have arranged for a food drive for Food for Neighbors. Last year and again this year, Kris’ law firm colleagues have contributed more than $5000 in food that will go to Arlington students who need food to make it through the week. Braylon and Nick both volunteered at Food for Neighbors and, through these incredible efforts, we perpetuate this aspect of Braylon’s and Nick’s life. This year’s on-site volunteer effort takes place on November 9, just a few days from now.
Last year’s W-L seniors, along with Kelly McIntyre, continued the tradition of planning for and hosting the Hoops for Cancer basketball tournament at W-L, and it was a great success. That event has recently celebrated the life and spirit of Braylon and of Ben Gieseman, a beloved member of our community who was a model father, husband and friend to so many. Ben was an incredible person and his family – Beth, Evie, Max, and Josie – are living his legacy. The Donaldson Run community again celebrated Braylon’s legacy with the second annual three-point shooting and dunk contest, organized by Ben Tsuchitani and played on the basketball court featuring Braylon’s silhouette. Many members of the DR community appeared for the event, warming our hearts and bringing smiles to our faces.​
​We have initiated the Braylon Meade Legacy Awards, as a way to keep his legacy of kindness, courage, and humor alive and to honor those who have done so much to perpetuate his legacy. Our first recipients – Marc Wallace, Christy McIntyre, Mark Weiser, Charlie Taylor and Jack Tsuchitani, the always-fabulous Christine Wilson, and the Michigan Crew – all reflect those wonderful (and missing) qualities. We will issue more Legacy Awards at the upcoming basketball classic (and, in the name of each recipient, dedicate another $2,222.22 to the Scholarship funds) and again at the Third Annual Ginger Cup in 2025.
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We were entertained by – and amazed by the musical talent of – the local band “No One You Know” (Chris Brown, Robbie Francis, Mike Hogan, Steve Harmon, Karen Harned, Ken Willner, Dave DiNardo, and Randy Jones) performing at Solace in Falls Church, with contributions again going to the Braylon Scholarship funds. We loved hosting the Elijah watch party, when the USC Trojans battled Louisville in the Holiday Bowl. We are so heartened by the relationship Elijah, Bryan, and Lauren have forged in SoCal – a relationship borne of Braylon’s presence and perpetuated by those who love him. And we loved hosting so many of Braylon’s peeps in May 2024, when so many were back from their first year of college. Pics of many of these events are or will be posted at www.braylon22.org.
As a result of the incredible generosity of this community, contributions to the Arlington Community Foundation Scholarship funds total nearly $500,000 (from which three four-year scholarships are awarded to graduating Arlington County kids each year) and nearly $400,000 has been donated to the University of Michigan Scholarship funds (from which scholarships are awarded to Arlington County graduates who attend U-M). To make sure Braylon’s legacy lives on for the rest of time through these funds, we need to ensure each fund reaches $650,000 – a goal we think we can achieve in the next 18 months.
Equally important to the psyche of both of us are the individual acts of kindness so many of you provide. Words of support. Knowing hugs. Walks. Talks. The visits to our home from the young men and women who were close to Braylon and are now in their second years of college. The texts on football Saturdays. Sharing pics of inquisitive cardinals that visit you (and by “you,” we mean mostly Tine). The simple “how are you doing” questions. Zipping us pics when you see the #22 in places you might not expect to see it. Sending pics of memorable moments you have had with Braylon.
But we want to focus on the talks. We know how difficult it is to raise Braylon and the pain of his death, but we truly welcome hearing each of you convey what Braylon meant to you, how he impacted your life, and how he continues to move you. We welcome – and will always welcome – such hugely significant moments of awareness and remembrance. Please keep them coming. Knowing that so many of you move through life with Braylon on your shoulder, in your ear, in your heart, and inside your head – hopefully to positive effect – is so helpful to us. Seeing you approach life in a way that Braylon would find productive is so important to truly living his legacy.
But we – and by “we” the Meade-Kehoe family means every last one of us – must do better. We can’t keep experiencing the intense pain of the deaths of Braylon and Nick. We are covered by a blanket of sadness that we now know, two years into this, will never be lifted from our lives. We will never be the same; joy is hard to come by and ephemeral. But we do know that every last one of us can commit to never letting this happen again. And, while a year ago we may have viewed that as a hope or an aspiration, we now know that is an imperative. Enough.
Lastly, we need to share words – again – with you, Braylon. Your importance and your impact on all of us has only grown since we last saw you and since we last addressed you publicly in a letter we shared with this community a year ago. Since we last hugged you. Since we last shared a laugh with you. This community so misses you and we, along with your siblings, miss you every time we awaken. Every time we speak. Every time we vacation. Every time we find ourselves falling short of the mark. Your siblings blow your parents away at every turn, as they live your legacy, miss your smile, and yet march forward, determined to make this world a better place and try to achieve the standards you set for them. We feel you, we see you, and we embrace all that you were, and are. We love you so much, Braylon. We only wish that the none of this ever happened. And it need not have happened. And we cannot have future acts of this type happen again.
With all the love in our hearts. Thank you all.
Kris, Rose, Bryan and Kerry