To see more photos from the Conrad Murphy Benefit Concert on our Facebook page, click here for a gallery of photos by Dan Kidder and click here for a gallery of photos by Gabriel Santana.
By: Dan Kidder
When you live in a community like Valley Center, it doesn’t take long to see how powerfully and passionately people come together to help others in their time of need.
I met Conrad Murphy when baseball season started this spring, and I could easily see why his coaches and teammates spoke so highly of him. His hard work and dedication to the game were obvious, but this quiet, contemplative young man impressed me with his thoughtful observations and the specific encouragements he gave his teammates.
Like the rest of you in our community and beyond, I followed the next chapter of Conrad’s story from day one with a mixture of sadness and hope. It broke my heart to see the Facebook posts from his friends as the news spread about the car accident that Saturday morning in April. When I stopped by the hospital to say hello to the Murphy family that Monday night, I was encouraged to see so many people there supporting, encouraging and loving them in such a difficult time.
And when I asked Conrad’s friends to write in with their stories about him, I was amazed at the consistent threads of kindness, generosity, humor and perseverance woven into their words. As the days and weeks rolled by, we all celebrated the small victories—from Conrad opening his eyes for the first time to waking up fully to wiggling his toes to remembering sign language—all the way up to the day he got to go home again, nearly nine weeks after the accident.
Saturday’s benefit concert at Bates Nut Farm was so much more than just a group of well-wishers paying lip service to a kid they’d never met. No, our community joined with those in Conrad’s hometown of Fallbrook, as well as communities from all across the county, the country and the world—Conrad has been receiving little messages of encouragement in the Facebook group “Get Well Soon, Conrad Murphy,” some of which have come from places such as Australia and the United Kingdom—to do what we all know our community would do for us in a situation like this.
We got together and made a difference.
Signs for the Conrad Murphy Benefit Concert started popping up around town—and around the interwebs—before the official lineup of entertainers had been finalized. Hardly a conversation could be ended without a half-question, half-admonition—“See you at Conrad’s concert?” And when the day arrived, there was a general sense of excitement in the air—different than what you feel at the annual Western Days celebrations or a home football game for the Jaguars, which are always fun—as though we all knew that we were a part of what was happening, not just spectators sitting on the sidelines. We all helped Conrad write this chapter of his story, and we couldn’t wait to celebrate with him because we’ve been celebrating with him all along the way.
I have to say, our community knows how to celebrate. The music was fantastic, with a little bit of something for everybody—from the show tunes of A Little Bit Of Broadway to the pop/country mix of Morgan Leigh to the praise music of the Ridgeview Church Worship Band to the toe-tapping country of Heidi & The Hurricane. I arrived right at 4 p.m., and it wasn’t long before the wonderful aroma of the barbecue started plucking at the strings of my appetite. It was a tough choice between tri-tip, chicken or hot dogs, but I noticed that a lot of folks simply opted for one of each, which is never a bad choice with cooking like this.
The silent auction items were numerous and incredible, with an entire row of tables dedicated to autographed memorabilia from Major League Baseball, including a baseball signed by the entire 2011 National League All-Star team, a Barry Bonds autographed bat, an Adrian Gonzalez autographed jersey and a host of items from the Padres and Rangers.
And that was just the beginning. There were items that ranged from quilts and beautifully-crafted wooden bowls all the way up to a stove and two washing machines and a week’s free lodging in Costa Rica. There were even lots of activities for the kids, from an inflatable bouncy castle to pony rides to a cake walk to a football toss game.
Halfway through the event, one of the helicopter crews from Mercy Air landed in the field and invited the crowd to see the craft that carried Conrad to the hospital after the crash. But even with a helicopter landing nearby, it was still easy to see that Conrad was the real star of the show. Being back at home has had a very evident positive effect on him—even since his graduation ceremony in the hospital a month ago, his speech is vastly improved, his general demeanor seems much more at ease, and he is able to walk around with the help of a cane, something that seemed unimaginable just a few months ago. There was a pretty steady stream of people who found Conrad in his seat in the shade and stopped by to say hello, to wish him well, and to give him a few words of encouragement.
One particularly poignant moment came when the firefighters who were first on the scene at Conrad’s accident came to say hi. There wasn’t much to say between them, but they both expressed how amazing it was to see Conrad doing so well after coming so far from where they found him that day.
And after all the handshakes, hugs, silent auction bids and swinging tunes, the exhausted but happy concert organizers took one last moment to look around and appreciate what the night meant. When all the numbers were added up, the benefit concert raised more than $30,000 for Conrad and his family as he continues to work through physical therapy and the many challenges of full recovery yet to be faced. But more than the numbers, the Conrad Murphy Benefit Concert was another reminder that this young man’s story is far from being written.
And we are privileged to have been a small part of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment