{"id":4100,"date":"2018-05-14T00:10:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T00:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/?p=4100"},"modified":"2023-05-24T17:56:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:56:30","slug":"trace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/2018\/05\/14\/trace\/","title":{"rendered":"Trace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-one years ago we chose Trace’s name because of its Gaelic and English meanings: courageous, the battler, brave, warlike, and fierce. <\/em>
\n\u2014Amy Bulger<\/em><\/h4>\n

To his hig\"\"<\/a>h-school football coach, Trace Bulger \u201919 is the player more concerned about his team\u2019s character than its wins.<\/p>\n

To his high-school art teacher, he\u2019s the student she watched fall in love with painting.<\/p>\n

To his college track-and-field coach, he\u2019s the \u201cbig guy\u201d with a lot of rhythm.<\/p>\n

To his fraternity, he\u2019s the brother who loved to talk \u2026 a lot.<\/p>\n

To his college art professor, he\u2019s the student who constantly makes him think, \u201cI need to be a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also fighting a degenerative neurological disease that has left the former defensive lineman, shot-putter, artist, and wordsmith homebound and confined to a wheelchair. Countless medical specialists still don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

He eats through a feeding tube. He can barely talk or use his hands.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not who<\/em> he is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Guerin Catholic High School<\/strong> Head Football Coach Tom Dilley recalls the first time he met Trace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was hired, my first priority was to meet with every player who was going to be a senior. Trace came in with a list of questions. Not \u2018What kind of offense or defense are you going to run?\u2019 They were about spiritual development; about character development; about leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to myself, \u2018Man, I\u2019d better be on my toes!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Last fall, the staff at Guerin Catholic wanted to pray for Trace at a football game. His family didn\u2019t have an easy way to get his motorized wheelchair to the stadium, but the school was determined.<\/p>\n

So on September 22, Trace was pushed to the end zone with his family as Guerin Catholic\u2019s and Bishop Chatard\u2019s teams ran onto the field.<\/p>\n

Both teams lined up on their own 25-yard lines, helmets in hand, heads bowed, and the stadium fell silent as a prayer for Trace and his\u00a0family echoed over the PA system.<\/p>\n

Trace looked up at his mom \u2026 and rolled his eyes as if he were saying, \u201cAre you serious?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really glad he did that because that meant he knew what was going on, whether he liked it or not,\u201d his former coach says. \u201cWe were going to do it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe always had a vision<\/strong> of doing a painting of his dad, and he wanted to do it in oil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerin Catholic art teacher Beth Wagoner watched Trace fall in love with art. She helped him cultivate his creative side and learn to express himself visually.<\/p>\n

A couple years later as his motor skills began deteriorating and his speech became harder to understand, she didn\u2019t want that expressiveness to fade. So she started art-therapy sessions with him in his home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Beth hadn\u2019t noticed any decline in Trace\u2019s abilities at Guerin, but after he graduated, she had Shaelen, one of his sisters, in class.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe worries about them a lot,\u201d Beth says of Shaelen. \u201cHer mom, Amy, sleeps on the couch downstairs, where they moved Trace, just in case something happens. It\u2019s just \u2026it\u2019s rough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve always said he was kind of the glue of the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis dad says Trace is still praying, too. His dad will ask him how his faith life is going, and he\u2019ll say, \u2018Good.\u2019 I\u2019m just amazed that he\u2019s so determined still and staying true to himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0think he\u2019s the glue<\/strong> wherever he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired attorney and Wabash College Trustee Stephen Bowen \u201968 met Trace during his first semester teaching, which was also Trace\u2019s first at Wabash. The class was an upper-level seminar in theological ethics comprising juniors and seniors \u2026 and first-semester freshman Trace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him, \u2018What are you doing here?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Well, I was a little late getting all of my registration done. I saw this opening, it passed with the registrar, and here I am!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018It sounds like you snuck in! Trace, this is a really hard course.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I went to a Catholic school. I can handle it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was the first day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trace did struggle with the course. At the beginning, his comments during discussions were often out of left field.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then one day, about a month and a half into the semester, he had an insight in class that just staggered everybody. It was right on the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat night I was in the library and he came rushing up to me. And he\u2019s a big football player! And he said, \u2018Hey Mr. Bowen! I was pretty good today, wasn\u2019t I?!\u2019 And I said, \u2018Trace, you were terrific.\u2019 And he said, \u2018I\u2019m glad you said that because I\u2019ve decided to stick out the course.\u2019 I think he ended up with a B plus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next January, Steve came back to campus for a trustees dinner with juniors and seniors and invited Trace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had him stand up, and I said, \u2018Anybody know who this guy is?\u2019 A bunch of his upperclass Sigma Chi brothers piped up. So I said, \u2018Wonder why the hell he\u2019s here? I wondered the same thing when he showed up to my upper-level seminar.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI just had to embarrass him, but he loved it, just loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the earliest effects of Trace\u2019s condition was extremely rapid speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became increasingly difficult for me to understand him. One night, I sat down and had coffee with him, and when he talked, he would press a finger for each word to try to slow his voice down. It was probably a week after I had that conversation with him that I got the email saying he had left campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got another email shortly before the end of that semester, and he said, \u2018I\u2019m hanging strong, and I hope to be back soon.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re with him<\/strong> every day, you don\u2019t see the progression as easily. It just creeps up on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oliver Page \u201919, one of Trace\u2019s Sigma Chi pledge brothers, sits in 1832 Brew with his leg in an orthopedic boot stretched out into the aisle.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrace and I were the only Sigma Chis who showed up for the Homecoming bed races our freshman year, and we were about to go against seven Betas. Trace was sitting in the grocery cart, I was pushing him, and he was like, \u2018Go! Go!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were throwing stuff at us, and Trace had pillows to block with. He was horrible at blocking, and I kept getting nailed. When we finished, he was like, \u2018I didn\u2019t get hit at all!\u2019 I said, \u2018That\u2019s because you were supposed to be defending me!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another pledge brother, David Daugherty \u201919, helped organize a time to honor Trace during the coin toss of the Wabash vs. Wittenberg football game last fall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIf this happened to me, I have no doubt Trace would be doing for me what I\u2019m doing, except times 10,\u201d David says.<\/p>\n

Trace was wheeled out to the middle of the field for the coin toss, surrounded by his family and the Wabash captains, his former teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was tearing up, and people thought I was sad I couldn\u2019t play in the Wittenberg game because of my injury,\u201d Oliver says. \u201cI was like, \u2018No! This has nothing to do with that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever something bad happens, Trace has it 10 times worse. And they don\u2019t even know why this has happened. It feels like a lottery sometimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Trace, of all people?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you say<\/strong> to that family? So I just walked up to him and I said, \u2018Mr. Bulger, welcome back to Wabash.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

There are tears as Olmy Olmstead \u201904 remembers the day Trace came back for the coin toss. As an assistant football coach and a Sigma Chi brother himself, Olmy says he is proud of the way the guys are rallying around Trace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you put both Wabash College and Sigma Chi together, you have an unstoppable force of help and support behind you. I hope that\u2019s what Trace feels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spring of Trace\u2019s freshman year, Olmy was asked to coach the shotput throwers for track and field.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the football season, we really didn\u2019t see any decrease in his abilities, and I was around him every day. Then we got into track and field and I really saw a decline in his performance. My first thought was, \u2018How am I screwing this kid up so bad?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Also watching Trace struggle was the volunteer coach brought in to help mentor both Olmy and the throwers: Big Ten Champion shotput thrower from Purdue University\u2014and Trace\u2019s dad\u2014Dan Bulger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine how his dad must feel,\u201d says Olmy, a new dad himself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOne time, Trace was<\/strong> trying to tell me a story. He was like, \u2018Coach, this is hilarious.\u201d Track and Field Coach Clyde Morgan laughs. \u201cHe was so excited that I couldn\u2019t keep up with how fast he was talking. So I said, \u2018OK, big guy, just text it to me.\u2019 He\u2019s texting me, I\u2019m texting back, and we\u2019re just laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter he left my office that day, he swung back in, gave me a big ol\u2019 hug, and said, \u2018I love you, man.\u2019 That\u2019s Trace.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring his sophomore year we were in fall training and it was getting rough for him. He fell a couple of times doing duck walks with a PVC pipe. We were on the side of the track, and the football team had some music going, and Trace bounces up and just starts dancing! Big man has some rhythm!\u201d<\/p>\n

For almost a year after Trace left campus, Clyde stayed in touch through text messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn August [2017] I texted him. \u2018Hey big guy. Just checking on you. Love you.\u2019 And nothing back. Usually I would get something back, even if it was just a broken text. Later, his mom texted me back and told me he couldn\u2019t even pick up a phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had a poster child for our \u2018MOWNBU\u2019 motto (Men of Wabash, Nothing Breaks Us), Trace would absolutely be standing there. I don\u2019t know many grown adults who would be fighting like he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had students face<\/strong> life-threatening situations, but there\u2019s something so specific about Trace because of who he is. This bizarre goodness, and you\u2019re just like, \u2018Shit. I need to be a better person.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

BKT Assistant Professor of Art Matt Weedman first met Trace when Matt was walking around the fraternities during Homecoming as the freshmen were building floats. Trace walked right up and introduced himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a beacon of positive energy like I have never witnessed in a student. And I said that on Day One.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trace was a student in Matt\u2019s \u201cGhost in the Machine\u201d class, and one of the projects centered around inventions. Trace took a glove and put several different paint brushes on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoorly made would be an understatement.\u201d Matt laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he takes this glove, a canvas, and an easel and paints the Chapel in sort of a Bob Ross style. He\u2019s giving a painting lesson with this horrible glove, and he\u2019s so straight-faced about it. And because he has problems with his speech, people are really nice to him when they come up and see what he\u2019s doing, which he thinks is just hilarious because he was like, \u2018This is the worst thing I\u2019ve ever seen!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a great sense of humor\u2014ironic, funny, and yet sincere. I don\u2019t think Trace could do anything without being sincere too. He was painting the Chapel, which was important to him, but, on the other hand, you\u2019re watching him comment on how people treat people with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day, Trace came into Matt\u2019s office and asked him to read some of his poetry. Matt admits he knows nothing about poetry, but he could tell Trace was letting his guard down in that moment and knew he needed to let him be vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis person who knows everybody in the world is coming to me to share and have this connection with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that Trace made me one of his special people. But I am the benefactor of that, much more than he could ever be.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\u201cTrace wants to talk to people,<\/strong> wants to express his love and his kindness. Imagine being that type of person and have others not be able to understand what you\u2019re saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe Walters, another of Trace\u2019s Sigma Chi brothers, is head of the Trace Bulger Committee. After Trace left campus, some of the people he had influenced decided to pick up where Trace left off.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrace wanted to do so much on campus but was stripped of it, and the best thing we could do is create some sort of lasting impact. Not in his honor or in his name but because this is what Trace would have done, and what Wabash lost. As much as Trace and his family may miss Wabash, Wabash misses him more.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the committee first came together, they knew the one thing they definitely had to continue was Trace\u2019s Munch.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Trace started Trace\u2019s Munch in his fraternity kitchen. On Sunday afternoons, he would invite anyone and everyone over and cook for them.<\/p>\n

It started slowly at first, but, eventually, guests of Trace\u2019s Munch had to pay a cover charge to help him pay for all of the food.<\/p>\n

And on March 25, members of the entire Wabash community gathered in Knowling Fieldhouse for the first Trace\u2019s Munch since he left campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to remind the Bulgers that we\u2019re always going to be there for Trace,\u201d says Joe. \u201cThis is home for him, and he\u2019s family to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe and Trace left campus at about the same time. Joe was getting ready to study abroad for a semester and Trace was leaving to get the answers he needed from doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrace is a fighter. I hoped he would be better when I got back. So the hardest thing in the world was seeing him at the Wittenberg football game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an emotional time for him because he was so happy but also in pain. His dad lifted Trace\u2019s head up for me to say hi\u2014let us make eye contact\u2014and you could tell he would give anything to talk, to be able to give a hug. He couldn\u2019t do that, but you see it in his eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt just means the world<\/strong> to us the way friends, administrators, and staff at Wabash have reached out to Trace and our family,\u201d Amy Bulger says. \u201cIt can help a bad day seem a little brighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI show him pictures of his friends, read notecards his Sigma Chi brothers wrote to him, and try to recall the stories that I know.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the best thing for Trace is the occasional visit from brothers. He misses them. Hearing old stories and inside jokes from when he was there brings a glimmer to his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notecards Sigma Chi put together are overwhelming. Their theme was Trace is the kindest, most genuinely uplifting person to others they’d ever met.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something I’ve known about him since he was very young, but it\u2019s so nice to see the effect he had everywhere he went.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Christina Egbert<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-one years ago we chose Trace’s name because of its Gaelic and English meanings: courageous, the battler, brave, warlike, and fierce. \u2014Amy Bulger To his high-school football coach, Trace Bulger \u201919 is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":4111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-videos"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/05\/trace_graphic-1024x708.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4100"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4175,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100\/revisions\/4175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}