Keep On, Hydaren

In yesterday's edition of the Herald Tribune, there was a front-page story about a terrible accident that happened just one neighborhood away from us, in the Orange Avenue housing development.  The story explained that while 6-year-old Hydaren was playing outside in the courtyard at his grandmother's apartment complex, he came upon an electrical transformer box that was not properly locked shut by the electric company.  When he explored the box, he got a terrible shock, with even more electricity than a person would receive if they were in the electric chair.

Today when the neighborkids dropped by in the afternoon, Da'Sean picked up the newspaper article and read it out loud to us.  Right away, Dareeona, who was listening said, "Oh my God!  Is he gonna be okay?"  As I've come to expect, the kids were quick to express care and concern, sensing that this boy was not far-removed from all of us - a "fellow neighbor," regardless of whether he lives in Central-Cocoanut.

It turns out this is not the first time a little kid got terribly hurt at the same transformer box -- back in the 1970's, a 4-year-old boy got hurt the same way.  And that boy, it turns out, is not only a fellow neighbor, but also a relative!  When the D's dad Oscar came over and Da'Sean told him about the story in the newspaper, Oscar said that the little boy who got hurt back in the 70's was actually Dareeona's Uncle Tim!  Knowing this made the whole situation feel that much more personally related to all of us.

To let Hydaren know we're thinking of him, the kids decided to make a huge neighborhood card for him.  They thought together some about what message they wanted it to say, and decided to write, "Keep On, Hydaren."  Here are some pictures of the neighborkids making the card.

After they had decorated the card and we all had signed it, the kids took it around the neighborhood and others signed it too.

Mr. Dennis, who dropped by my house just as we were heading out, signed.

Kids playing in the park at the end of our street signed.

Neighbors sitting out in their front yard on 18th Street signed. 

Kids at the Payne Chapel AME Church, practicing for their Easter pageant, signed.

One of Mr. Dennis' fellow residents at Renaissance Manor, known as "The Admiral," signed.  

This is when we found out that our neighbor (who is my next-door neighbor), Keneisha, is actually Hydaren's cousin!  She told us that his nickname is Dro, and that when the kids finish gathering signatures on the banner, she will take it to their next family gathering to deliver to him in person.

It turns out this boy is even closer to us than we first realized.

So this is a tribute to our fellow community member, Hydaren "Dro" Taylor.  We want the very best for you, and we will also do our part to follow up in making sure our neighborhood is safe for you and all the other neighborkid explorers.

Take good care.