Beaudin L. #1

Beaudin and I waited in line to meet Dr. June. He is one of the brilliant doctors behind CAR T therapy and, as far as Beaudin cares, is a celebrity based on the documentary film we got to view the night before the ball. Many families wanted to meet him and as such short queue had formed. A gentleman from a sponsor table near our place in line struck-up a conversation with us as we waited.

Beaudin introduced himself and one of the men replied, “Beaudin? Like the Beaudin?” 

“Um… yes…” Beau hesitated.

“Oh man,” he grabbed his colleagues shoulder and turned him around, “Dude, this is Beaudin!”

“Oh, Beaudin! Man, we hoped we’d meet you!” The colleague said without skipping a beat. 

“Um… how do you know me…?” Beau questioned.

“Well, Dr. June,” he motioned towards the front of the line, “He tells us about some of the warriors, we’ve heard about how brave you’ve been. Gosh…we are so glad you are here.”

Tears welled in my eyes as gratitude for this improv overwhelmed me. These men had no idea who Beaudin was, but they knew what he had done. He had said, “yes,” to moving this science forward. Beau beamed as they asked more about how he was doing, and what he liked to do. (Sports, the answer is always sports.) Soon enough we were at the front of the line and ready to meet Dr. June.

More to be said on Dr. June at a later date. This man is a legend.

–

A bit later the gentleman we had chatted with came and found us at our table, handing Beaudin his program. 

“Hey, could I get your autograph?” He asked feigning bashfullness.

“…Sure…” Beaudin’s eyes grew wide as he found a page to sign. Jude looked on, astonished.

“Oh, and could you also put your baseball number next to it. I want it for when you go to the majors.”

Beaudin L. # 1

He signed in perfect cursive.

“Number one? I should have figured… Wow, thank you.” The man said as he patted the program against his chest, smiled, and returned to his seat.

“Thank you,” I mouthed with tears in my eyes.