Taylor Brennan

From Survival Of The Fittest

Name: Taylor Brennan
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Grade: Mrs. Saranna's Homeroom 225. Grade 10th.
School: Hobbsborough
Extra Curricular Activities: Junior Varsity Boys Cross Country, Varsity Track specializing in hurdles, Political Action Club, Student Environmental Awareness Club , Spanish Club Treasurer, Yearbook Sophomore Editor, Sophomore Class Council

Description: Taylor stands at roughly 5’7 without shoes on, although many believe him to be taller due to his thin frame. At one time he was actually thinner, and many people thought he was bulimic because he could not keep food down. It turned out that a brain tumor in his cerebellum was suppressing his appetite and since the successful surgery to remove the tumor three months ago he has gone from just 100 lbs. to 120 lbs. with a willowy and lightly toned physique. Taylor has medium-short cropped dark blonde hair that becomes wavy and harder to manage when it grows longer. His face is handsome, with a small semi-thin nose, hazel eyes, and thin ovular face. Taylor indulges in cosmetics made especially for men and wears foundation make-up and concealer to enhance his appearance. He is very vain on the inside but also has poor self-esteem, being very self conscious about his physical imperfections which include a partially visible scar on the back of his neck from his recent brain surgery, several (two) small scars on his stomach from a recent emergency laparoscopic surgery to repair a burst ulcer in his duodenum and a prosthesis in place of his right eye which he lost after a string of surgeries several years ago. Until very recently he had lost much of the strength in his left arm and hand. This was a result of his brain surgery, but physical and occupational therapy have made him nearly ambidextrous today.

Personality wise Taylor’s can be described as glowing. Recently he has been much more appreciative of life in general. After his brain surgery and emergency abdominal surgery to repair the ulcer Taylor was left with the possibility that things might never be the same. He realized he never appreciated life enough and became extremely depressed and anxious and briefly suffered from hypersensitivity to bodily feelings. Luckily his doctors prescribed medication and he slowly got better. Physically he improved greatly over the next months but he never forgot how scary the thought of being so helpless was. Ever since then Taylor has gone out of his way to be kinder to everyone although his obsession with keeping up appearances has remained. Due to his surgeries and more outgoing personality in the recent months his popularity has sky rocketed from to the near top of Hobbsborough's social heirarchy. Taylor is also gay and has been openly out of the closet since a spirituality presentation in his religion class back in November. His classmates having known him for at least two solid years and the fact that he is not flamboyantly gay has made the process generally easy for him. Taylor has been met with no harassment from other students. Hobbsborough, formerly St. Andrews holds the Catholic position on homosexuality and would not allow Taylor to go to prom with another boy. This caused much scandal.

Taylor spent the first eleven years of his life in Iowa. His parents married and divorced each other twice before he was five and he lived with his mother after the second break-up. Unfortunately his mother had a mental breakdown and was committed for short time after the divorce. The doctors misdiagnosed her as a Bipolar Schizophrenic but later realized she suffered from a psychosis brought on by factors concerning her own various surgeries. Taylor and his mother’s side of the family suffer from a rare genetic disorder known as Von Hippel Lindau or VHL. This causes the afflicted to develop benign tumors in the brain, spinal cord and retina as well as potentially malignant tumors in the kidneys.

After Taylor’s mother, Joanna, was let out of the hospital after responding well to anti-psychotic drugs, the two moved in with her parents. Meanwhile Taylor’s father had gone back to school to become a doctor, abandoning a degree in electrical engineering to pursue medicine. Taylor spent a relatively normal childhood as his mother struggled to find her footing in the world again. Taylor was tested for VHL at ten and diagnosed as VHL positive. At the time he had only several tiny retinal tumors.

By the time Taylor turned eleven his father was conducting medical residency in New Jersey and was about to be remarried to a woman with two daughters aged ten and four. Taylor’s dad invited him to live with them and looking for a change Taylor accepted. Things were hard at first. For the first time Taylor attended a private Catholic school having always attended public schools in the past. He had trouble making friends throughout middle school being awkward and shy. Eighth grade was a particularly bad year. The blending of two families was also hard and his relationship with his stepmother was rocky in the beginning. There was frequent question of whether or not the marriage would work but it prevailed to this day.

High School proved somewhat better for Taylor as he turned out to be a late bloomer and developed into a much more appealing and charismatic person. His trouble in middle school would remain in the back of his mind however and as a result he is still subconsciously unsure of himself in everything and fears rejection from his peers. His freshman year was rough being the year of his various eye operations and his grades were poorer than usual because of this, but this was also the year that he was able to forge lasting friendships. Sophomore year proved to be a big year as well, being the year of brain surgery, Taylor’s coming out, and several other undisclosable things.

Concerning his sexuality Taylor’s been pleasantly surprised with how well everyone, including his family has taken it. His devout Catholic grandmother wants him to be a priest but Taylor doesn’t believe in the church teachings on the subject of homosexuality and refuses to repress his feelings. His family has known about his sexual orientation much longer than his peers have. While Taylor's personality is generally passive, he is not flamaboyant or stereotypical.

Today he is just happy to have a break from surgery to enjoy life, although he has a spinal tumor that will need to be operated on once it becomes symptomatic as well as several brain tumors which Taylor and his family have opted to radiate rather than remove through open surgery. Taylor is now close with his stepmother although at one time they were constantly at odds.

Clique: Taylor makes it a point to be outgoing and sociable towards everyone and is thus friends with a majority of the students at Hobbsborough.

Relationships:
Gigi Sinclaire - Gigi is one of Taylor's close friends and confidantes. Taylor loves Gigi's genuine nature and thinks her love for the 60's is totally awesome.

Other: Taylor has an illegitimate half sister (they share the same father) whom he has never met.

• His stepmother’s name is Janet and his two stepsisters are named Erin and Emma.

• Dr. Brennan and his family own two jet skies, 50 acres of country property, three horses, a 5000 square foot home and five vehicles including a new silver Lexus and a BMW convertible.

• Dr. Brennan is a radiologist.

• Taylor’s surgeries are performed in Iowa City, Iowa.

• Taylor was born in Iowa City, Iowa on March 15th 19??.

• Taylor grew up in Burlington, Iowa and most of his mother’s family and his father’s family live there.

• Taylor was voted best dressed boy of the current Hobbsborough Sophomore class at large in the annual yearbook poll.