Alumnus Bryan Taylor Releases Harrowing Memoir
Bryan Taylor was married five years before his late wife, Kailen, passed away from breast cancer in 2015. She was 25. Taylor recently completed a memoir about Kailen, entitled Even if you don’t, which is available today on Amazon.
When asked about the book, Taylor is quick to note: "It's not a cancer story — it’s a love story." But more than that, it is the awe-inspiring life story of Kailen Combs Taylor. Kailen lived with a perpetual sense of wonder, maintaining immutable joy and resilient hope in the midst of some of life’s most barbaric trials.
Narrated with heartrending candor, this harrowing love story will make you laugh and cry. Long after you finish the book, you may find Kailen’s message still resonates, reminding us that life can be a fairytale, even when it’s a tragedy.
Taylor now lives in Frankfort with his dog, Rupp. He spends his days working as a pharmacist, and, in lieu of sleep, his nights and early-mornings relentlessly pursuing his dream. He also maintains a blog about grief and grief topics, where he seeks to teach others the lesson that Kailen taught him — that there is joy even in the midst of pain.
Taylor has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, both from the University of Kentucky.
We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.
In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.
We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.