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thedrifter
11-07-07, 09:31 AM
Klaes gets more than he wished for
Jon Avise South Washington County Bulletin
Published Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Bryan Klaes’ day with the Minnesota Vikings in September was a dream come true — a Saturday spent as honorary coach of his favorite football team, collecting handshakes, jerseys and footballs.

But for the 19-year-old Cottage Grove boy who lives with cerebral palsy — a neurological disorder affecting body movement and muscle coordination — what made his weekend wasn’t the autographs, the playbook or the tickets to the game that Sunday versus rival Green Bay.

It was the surprise visit from twin brother Matt, a Marine Corps recruit who at the time was off at basic training, that topped off the experience made possible by Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Neither Bryan nor his mother Barbara knew the young Marine would be back for an unexpected leave from the grind of boot camp.

Until he walked through the door, that is.

“I was just absolutely shocked,” Barbara Klaes recalled recently. “I almost passed out.”

And after what Matt had been through to be with his brother on his big weekend, she wasn’t the only one whose legs could have given way.

A Make-a-Wish volunteer convinced the Marine Corps to grant Matt an almost unheard-of 72 hours of leave from basic training to surprise his brother — a trip home he hadn’t been able to get weeks earlier when Bryan went through another of countless operations he’s had during his young life.

But first came the “Crucible,” three days of hiking, camping and little sleep. And the end of the task for Matt meant a steep climb with 70 pounds on his back — and then back home.

“I knew I had to finish up the hardest part of boot camp,” Matt said. “I knew if I did that I got to go home.”

And the weight of that pack Matt carried on the final day wasn’t lost on his mother.

“Bryan only weighs 70 pounds because it’s hard for him to put on weight,” Barbara said. “In my mind he was carrying Bryan on his back.”

For the identical twin brothers, two-and-a-half months apart was like nothing either had experienced. It’s a special bond he and Bryan have, said Matt, now home on leave, though he doesn’t talk about it much.

Through dozens of surgeries — Barbara said between three and six each year — and the death of their father seven years ago, the brothers have been by each others’ sides. So, it wasn’t easy for Bryan when Matt graduated from Park in May and left in July for southern California and the grind of boot camp.

“When he went to boot camp it was kind of hard for me,” Bryan said Sunday while warmed by a purple and gold Vikings blanket. “I knew he would be gone for two-and-a-half months and I didn’t know if we’d be able to talk to each other.”

But a little old-fashioned pen and paper correspondence kept the twins in contact, and an “extremely rare” exception granted by the Marine Corps meant Matt could be there when Vikings head coach Brad Childress let Bryan call a play during the team’s Sept. 28 practice.

And their mother won’t forget the unexpected sight of the identical twins, so physically different, but so very alike, together last month.

“People think when your son joins the Marines they just take your child,” she said, “but it’s an absolute tribute to the Marines to recognize that family needs family.”


Jon Avise can be reached at javise@swcbulletin.com.

Ellie