The e-mails in this archive began early on in Brandon’s illness, and were written as a way of getting word home when he was in ICU, where taking or making telephone calls always was so difficult.  Though only a handful of people received the earliest updates, the mailing list grew, and soon it seemed everyone on it was forwarding the messages to a host of others in the community, across the country and even around the world. Some of those who regularly received these forwards knew Brandon or his family, but many had never met any of the Hampsons...yet simply grew to care about this young man’s journey.   

Feedback the family received from people whose own lives somehow were changed or enriched by traveling along with Brandon encouraged the updates to continue. 

From the time he was little until long after he grew ill, Brandon always kept at heart his mission “to help people.”  It is his family’s hope that his courage, kindness, perseverance and joy may be a continuing example of how to live this life well.