Brian Taff

SIX - SEVEN!

Happiest of birthdays to my littlest man, who went to bed last night as a 6 year old, and woke up this morning one year older.

He is pure joy personified, and lifts the mood of every room he enters. He is caring, kind, smart and funny — and I thank God every day that I get to be his Dad.

I love you, bud. To the end of space and back again.

Thanks for making our world immeasurably better, brighter and more fun, exactly 7 years ago today. 😍

Maybe it’s the comfort of the world my parents worked so hard to give me as a kid, or maybe it’s just the innocence hard wired within every child, but growing up I had the acute feeling that “they have it figured out.”

They, of course, being the grown-ups. The unknown ones out there making the world work.

When things didn’t make sense to me, I rested in the confidence that the adults understood it all — had answers and solutions to every question and concern. And, I joyfully wrapped myself in the warmth that comes with that confidence.

And then, I became one of the grown-ups. One of the ones out here, trying to make the world work.

Turns out, we have neither all the answers nor the solutions. But, what we do have is the agency to seek them, and to fortify that bubble around our kids with at least the contentment that comes with the effort we put in to make the world a better place.

There may be no better example of that than the one here. David Fajgenbaum’s story is one worthy of Hollywood (and, in fact, it soon will be). Stricken with a rare disease that had no known cure, he set about finding one for himself.

AND HE DID.

And then he set out to do more. Today, he’s giving the same hope to others around the world, stricken with illnesses and without the comfort of knowing that “they have it figured out.” Thank God, he is working to be their “they,” dedicated to figuring out as much as he humanly can.

I’m proud to call David a friend, and hope you find the same inspiration in this remarkable story that I have.

It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as curing a disease, but surely in ways big and small, we can all be someone’s “they” — and give someone else the warmth and confidence that comes in knowing they’re not in this alone.

How Nearly Dying Helped Me Discover My Own Cure (and Many More) | David Fajgenbaum | TED Physician-scientist David Fajgenbaum was dying from a rare disease that didn't have a cure — until he discovered a lifesaving drug that wasn't originally int...