It Started With Brian

I have to agree with the others. It was a beautiful story. What I got the most was Sams strength, to have lived that life and still keep moving forward. Incredible people. I wish for you all the best life has to offer you and your son.

What a beautiful and important piece of work. So much life lived, and so much love. I'm emotionally exhausted, but what a ride it has been.

Life is not pure calculations, a simple algorithm of utility...sometimes it's a question of what makes the Human heart beat.

Thank you, so very much.

What a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing this. I wish the best for you and your son.

And thank you Adam for your part in helping with this amazing story.

What an awesome & Beautiful story. I loved every minute of it.

The saddest part was Brian's postscript. After I read that I could not even bring a smile to my face. Thank you Adam for continuing the story. I am pretty sure you where also a character there (a member of the first yahoo group Sam joined).

I wish Brian the best and pray Sam knows that his story (and Brian's) are an inspiration to others.

First time that I ever wrote a review here on GA, but I had to.

It's actually the second time I've read this story and, just like last time a while back, once I started I couldn't stop until I got to the end;

This second time started like this: I started to read "The Least Of These", by Josh, on AwesomeDude, for the third time. But after a third of the story, I realized I didn't want to deal with such an emotional roller coaster. Normally, I love them, but I've been somewhat depressed lately, so needed something lighter.

So, in the search for something lighter to read, I came here to GA and got to this story. I thought the title sounded familiar, but then again I've read every single story in here that sounded even slightly interesting by reading the title and the description, so I wasn't really expecting to find something I never read before.

I was looking for something lighter. So I started reading. A few chapters in, I got goosebumps and realized I was thinking to myself "God, please. Not THAT story." when some things started to pull at memories of when I read it the first time. But yes, it was THAT story. I actually laughed to myself. Something lighter... Jeez. But I had already started, so I couldn't just stop before reading it through to the end, could I?

Obviously, I don't regret it in the least.

Usually when I come to these kinds of sites, I look for stories of gay boys or men. Because when I come to these kinds of sites I want to read about characters that I can relate to. I always try to put myself in their shoes, and it's a lot easier to do that the more they actually are just like me. But I can't relate to a bisexual man nor to a straight man. But actually, it didn't matter either time I read this story, because it's not a story about sexuality. It's a story about love, and we all can relate to that. Maybe some of us haven't been lucky enough to be gifted with such strong, beautiful love (I know I haven't), but we all had love to some extent.

What I get from this story is a general feeling of hope. Hope that things can and often will get better. Hope that some dreams can come true. And it's also a message of strength. It tells us (or me, at least) that sometimes things can get really rough, but that we should be strong instead of giving up, because sometimes it's worth it. Of course, there are things that, no matter how much or how strongly we try, we can't save or fix. But that doesn't mean we should give up altogether because some of them we can, and those make it worth it.

So, I have to give my thanks to Dan for sharing a chunk of his life with us readers, to Adam for completing it when he was unable to, and to Brian (John, is it?) for the help in getting this done.

What gets me a bit frustrated is Sam's death of cancer. For all he went through, and for all the time he waited, he deserved a very long happily ever after. But c'est la vie. At least we know his memory will live on, and he got the true happiness he longed for, if for a little while.

The story was just amazing, no more than amazing. no words to describe it !

The only thing i can say is thank you !!! thank you so much for sharing it with us.

you certainly have my respect and gratitude. The sad part of it is that it shows life can always bring us down and the only thing we have to do is to fight and to be strong.. just like what Brian did.. a remarkable person

a remarkable story !!!

Amazingly touching, I have no further words. Hope the light that is Sam shines over Brian and their son.

I loved "It Started with Brian". What an amazing and inspirational story. Dan, I'm so happy you had so much love in your life in you lifetime. I'm so happy to hear John/Brian adopted your son. Thank you for sharing your touching story.

Adam Phillips - thank you for finishing Dan's story. You are awesome. I also love the stories you posted here, too.