‘I feel loved. One-hundred percent’: QND’s Brown stays determined, resilient and positive despite loss of both parents

QUINCY — The words of a text message sent from hundreds of miles away hit closer to Kaitlyn Brown’s heart than any of the other well wishes she received. 

A father just knows exactly what to say.

“I remember him texting and being like, ‘Oh, you’re going to beat them. You got it. You got it,’” Brown said of the message she received from her father, David, while prepping alongside doubles partner Morgan Zanger to represent Quincy Notre Dame in the Class 1A state tennis tournament in the Chicagoland suburbs a year ago.

“I keep on hearing that in my head,” she said.

It’s a voice she will hold onto forever.

Brown and Zanger returned to the state tournament this week, along with teammate Alyssa Ley, but without two of their most ardent supporters. Less than two months after sending that text to his daughter last fall, David Brown passed away on Dec. 17, 2023, following a battle with cancer. He was 58.

Eight months later, on July 16, 2024, Cindy Brown — David’s wife of 23 years and the mother of Kaitlyn and her three siblings — passed away from her own battle with cancer. She was 53.

Suddenly, for the Brown kids, life changed forever.

“As I look to the future, I know my parents won’t be there,” Brown said. “There are things I will accomplish that I wish they would be there. That’s life and I’m going to have to live through it.”

In the weeks and months that followed her parents’ passings, Brown came to realize two things — her parents’ love is never ending and the love of her friends, teammates and family is a powerful thing.

“Knowing my parents are in my heart lets me know they’ve never left me and they’re still here with me,” Brown said. “Knowing that is what keeps me going. It’s been rough, but I’ve realized you have to move on. You can’t stay in that place. 

“Tennis has helped. Tennis has helped me learn there are other people in my life who love me and that will help me. For me, it hasn’t been as hard because I look at the more positive aspect of life instead of looking down at the negative. It has been hard, but I’ve learned to move on and to stay happy no matter what.”

Those involved with the QND tennis program marvel at her strength in both staying positive and being a support system for her younger sister, Lydia, who is a freshman.

“I am blown away every day,” Zanger said. “My family went through loss when I was very young, and I have seen the effects it can have and how it can be a way that breaks people apart and it can be a way people can bond even more. She and her sister have done incredibly well sticking together and leaning on each other. Their bond is really incredible to see. The way they both carry through every day and show up to practice with a smile on their face and carry on and work hard. It’s incredible.”

Ley sees the sisters’ bond beyond the court. Not only are they cousins, but Ley’s parents — Eric and Krisha — have taken over as guardians and brought the Browns into their home. 

“I honestly don’t know if I were to be in her situation how I would react,” Ley said. “Just seeing the strength that Kaitlyn carries and Lydia and their brothers has been really inspiring. Seeing their trust in God has been really special to see.”

The way the Browns have adapted to new surrounding and new routines is remarkable, too.

“We were just trying to let them know we were there for them when they needed that support,” Ley said. “We knew they needed it, but I think we tried to let them heal in their own way and be there as much as possible but not try to push them.

“Family is really important. The past year has shown that. Family is built on love and we all share that for each other.”

Brown then smiled at her cousin.

“I feel loved,” Brown said. “One-hundred percent.”

That’s on the court, too.

“It’s nice to have someone there to have fun with but also to build me up when I need it through everything,” Brown said of her relationship with Zanger. “If it’s tennis or family related, I know she has my best interest at heart.”

Zanger couldn’t see it any other way.

“I’m there to be leaned on. It’s my job,” she said. “I like to think I’ve been helpful at keeping things normal.”

That took place right up until Thursday’s end of the season. The matches in the Chicagoland suburbs in this year’s Class 1A state tournament epitomized what the season has been about for the Raiders — resiliency, effort and drive.

Brown and Zanger reached the state tournament by finishing third at the Class 1A Jacksonville Sectional, needing to win a tiebreaker in the quarterfinals to secure a state berth. They needed more resiliency Thursday after losing 6-4, 6-4 to Teutopolis’ Ella Wermert and Allie Ruholl in  the opening round.

The QND tandem rebounded for a 1-6, 6-2 (10-1) victory over Antioch’s Aubrey Dickey and Erin Pasdiora. Brown and Zanger bowed out with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Richland County’s McKenna Snider and Claire Uhl. Ley lost both of her matches, falling 6-0, 6-0 to Woodstock Marian’s Kaitlin Remke and 6-0, 6-2 to Champaign St. Thomas More’s Catherine Ra.

The losses didn’t spoil the journey. When you play with the right perspective, they never will.

“We like to focus a lot on having fun and enjoying ourselves because that’s when we play our best,” Zanger said. “When we’re loose and we’re enjoying it and we’re playing together is when it works.”

That never changed.

“A lot of teams, we think they’re mad at us because we’re always laughing and having fun and they’re so serious,” Brown said. “It’s kind of like, ‘We’re sorry, but this is us.’”

Being unapologetic about who they are is how their parents want them to be, even if Brown’s love of tennis didn’t align with dad’s sport of choice.

“My dad was a diehard volleyball fan,” Brown said. “He loved volleyball. He played it. So when I joined tennis, he was like, ‘Shoot.’ Then he started to love it. I remember after matches, he’d be like, ‘I saw that person did this and I knew you were going to do that.’ He knew everything. I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, he’s into tennis.’

“It was fun I could bond with them in that way. Before that, it was like, ‘Oh, they don’t know tennis.’ Volleyball was something I could bond with them. As they started to learn tennis more, it was amazing I was able to gain that bond with them again and be able to talk about it and give them all the drama.”

Their attentiveness to the children’s activities comes as no surprise. Both David and Cindy Brown were highly respected teachers who worked in both the Quincy public schools and the Quincy Catholic Elementary Schools during their careers and impacted countless lives in the classroom and beyond.

And their legacy can be summed up with one single word.

“Loving,” Brown said. “They were incredible people. Everyone they saw they would just share their love with them. Since both of them were teachers, the impact they had on everyone is just amazing. It’s crazy. I wish I was like them.”

She is in ways she has yet to realize, specifically the nurturing side of her personality which has led to being a rock for her younger sister through this turbulent time.

“I think I’m young to have my parents pass away, but she’s just starting high school and doing all these new things,” Brown said. “She needs someone there and I need to be that person, especially since I’m a girl and she can bond with me even more. I know she likes to take the same footsteps I took, so I know I need to be there for her and I am.”

She also does her best to keep her parents’ memories alive.

“I do have this little jar and it has my dad’s heartbeat that I carry around always just to know he was there and to have his heart with me wherever I go,” Brown said. “There’s pictures of my mom on my phone that just pop up. It’s a good reminder they are always there with me no matter what.

“It’s good to have the memories, and I’m not sad about anything. I’m happy I had the time I had with them, and you can’t change anything. I’m grateful for everything I had with them.”