THE HISTORY OF BRIANNA

THE HISTORY OF BRIANNA'S BLESSINGS

Many people have asked "Why the name Brianna's Blessings?" or "What got you to think of putting this facility together?" So, to answer these questions for those who may wonder yet have not asked, we decided to give to you the history of Brianna's Blessings, along with the reason for it's name. (These are in full detail for those that want the "whole story".)

HISTORY

School was about to begin again for the year 2005 and the Dunn Family was out shopping for school supplies and clothing. Steve and Annie Dunn had 5 daughters, four of which were old enough to attend school. The youngest was Brianna, who had just turned 2 and was still not walking due to developmental delays and a possible syndrome that had not been confirmed.

Once the family arrived at the Hagerstown Mall in Maryland, they realized that they had forgotten the stroller for Brianna. This meant that she would have to be carried the entire time. Since Brianna's condition was one that affected her mainly on the inside of her body rather than the outside, she appeared "normal" to most that would glance at her. Her eyes crossed and wandered, her speech was way below the "normal range" and her short stature were never really noticed by strangers passing by. Rather, many comments were spoken about her hair. Brianna had long locks of blond curls surrounding her face, which caused people to stop and comment and want to reach out to touch a curl or two. Many times in the past, Annie would take Brianna out in public and because Brianna would be in her stroller or a shopping cart, no one would know about her inability to walk. Also, most people would only stop for a moment, make a comment and then be on their way, so when Brianna did not talk, it would not seem strange to anyone. Up until this day at the mall, Annie was not used to "stares or comments" regarding her daughter. The only comments Annie would hear were from Brianna's therapists or close friends.

On this day, however; things were about to change. The Dunn family had been shopping for over 2 hours and Annie was growing tired of holding Brianna for so long. Brianna, like many other 2 year olds, liked to explore and wanted to get down so she could crawl around and enjoy some freedom. Annie kept a small bottle of sanitizer in her purse for when Brianna would want to crawl around, and although Brianna was not one to put her hands in her mouth, Annie would still clean Brianna's hands after she would crawl around in a public area. When Brianna grew restless on her mother's hip, Annie decided it would be ok to put her down for a while. They were inside of a clothing store and it was not crowded, so everything seemed safe. One of the workers there was very sweet and spoke to our whole family, making sure to give everyone the attention that a customer deserves. She saw Brianna crawling next to Annie and commented on how cute she was and tried to talk to Brianna. Annie felt bad for the worker when Brianna was not answering her and explained that Brianna had some problems. It was apparent that she felt embarrassed and Annie tried to help her feel more comfortable after the worker said she was sorry, and explained that Brianna had some problems and to please not worry about it. The worker smiled and asked if she liked to crawl around a lot or was she pretending to act like an animal. This is when Annie had to explain that Brianna could not walk and how we still did not know if she would or not. Annie told the worker that she should not be embarrassed, that there was no way of knowing, but Annie could tell that this still left her unsure of saying anything more. The worker was clearly embarrassed now and Annie felt badly for this, so she thought it might be best to take Brianna out to the main area of the mall.

As Annie and Brianna headed for the main area, Annie had strange feelings enter inside both her mind and her body. Annie had joined some support groups on the internet to find out more about different syndromes that Brianna had been tested for and still being tested. She read so many posts from parents talking about the stares, comments and other things they went through. Those that had children in wheelchairs or other obvious problems usually got sympathy looks or stares while those that had children with mild to serious problems were dealing with stares and comments (sometimes mean comments on them being a "bad parent"). What people didn't think about is how some syndromes do NOT show on the outside. (For example: cancer would not be seen but can still kill a person) This was the first time that Annie had to explain so much to a stranger and she felt badly for making the worker feel embarrassed.

Just then Annie heard some comments regarding Brianna's hair from 2 women nearby. Being used to this, Annie glanced over and gave a small smile but at that same time, Brianna grew very restless to get down. Annie had a decision to make. Either hold onto Brianna where she would hit Annie and scream (having a meltdown), or to let Brianna down and clean her hands afterwards. Not wanting to cause a scene, Annie put Brianna down onto the floor and watched her begin to crawl as she followed close behind. At this point, the two women were just a little further behind and began to speak. The one woman raised her voice to make sure Annie could hear her. It was apparent. The woman said "You would think that mother would have some common sense to make her daughter walk; those floors are so dirty." Without thinking, Annie turned around to the women and said, "I would love to have my child stand up and walk around. But my daughter can't walk. And I'm very glad she's 90 percent deaf so she couldn't hear how rude you just were." The women looked downward and quickly walked away. Annie's eyes began to tear up, for she now felt worse for saying this to them. The feelings inside grew more intense as her mind swirled with all of the other parents of children with special needs go through this all of the time and for numerous years and here she was just starting out in this new world of theirs and wondered if she would survive it. So many thoughts went through Annie's mind while she waited for the rest of her family to finish up their shopping.

On the way home, Annie told her husband, Steve, about what had happened inside the mall. She also talked about the support groups, the parents on there, and how she was feeling. By the time she finished venting, Annie said that this type of situations had to stop. People had to become more aware that there are so many children out there with syndromes that are not able to be seen yet are having to deal not only with the stress of finances and coping with the problems their child had, but to also deal with strangers nagging about how they parent their child. As they passed by a McDonald's on their way back to their home in PA, Annie thought about all of the places that children with special needs could not go and play like the other "normal" children. Then it came to mind how there really wasn't a place she could think of that all types of children could play that was also handicapped accessible. It seemed the only places for those who required wheelchairs were bathrooms and parking spaces. Not knowing if Brianna would ever walk, this thought hit Annie's heart with extra pain.

Annie was never one to sit back and wait for someone else to take action. She was never afraid to get her hands dirty and to turn down a challenge. Annie decided that a place needed to be built that would allow ALL of the children to come and play.

This is how Brianna's Blessings first came to be.....in the mind of Annie Dunn.

More will be posted here in a journal type setting, for those interested, to tell how Brianna's Blessings went from a thought to a reality. Also, we will explain the reason behind the name. Please come back to this page as we continue to update you on the process.

Email: briannasblessings@yahoo.com