Faces of Mountain Brook: Slade Anderson

Slade Anderson was diagnosed with leukemia in November of 2012 and has spent much time at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Instead of just feeling bad for the 7-year-old boy and his family, the community has formed a powerful “Team Slade” to support them.

 “Slade said to me, ‘Mimi, you know I’m a star!’” Slade’s grandmother Debbie Anderson said. “The village has made him feel good about being sick. I have seen him smile time and time again. He would get so excited when a package arrived at the hospital.”

Companies across this community have pitched in to raise support for Slade. Taco Mama named a burrito after him. Sugar, Mobley & Sons and the Pants Store all have Team Slade T-shirts. Once Upon A Time sent him The University of Alabama pajamas just in time for the national championship game.

 “I want to drop on my knees and give thanks that my children are surrounded by the ‘village,’” Anderson said. “I want to hug everyone. Just saying thank you will never convey how appreciative we are. Mountain Brook defines the line ‘it takes a village!’ What an amazing place to live. We want everyone to know we feel the love and prayers.”

Slade has gotten a letter from George W. Bush; signed footballs from Eli Manning, Nick Saban, and Johnny Manziel; and a happy birthday tweet from A.J. McCarron. He also traveled to New York to shoot a St. Jude commercial with Marlo Thomas.

 “All of these kind, kind gestures have brought some comfort to Slade,” Anderson said. “As he told me, being sick is 50 percent good and 50 bad. Fifty percent good is about all the presents and fun. The 50 percent bad is the medicine and the procedures.”