The girl with the big smile was not herself.

This was no ordinary illness, and her mother knew it instinctively. RaShaun Larry’s daughter was slipping away. Precious D’Ariya needed help.

This was back in the spring, and it was bad. Really bad. Trouble came quickly for the Larry family, and then the healing took time.

The people at Children’s Hospital of Alabama saved D’Ariya Larry’s life earlier this year, and then Children’s Harbor, which supports kids with serious illnesses, provided care and services to help the Larrys through their living nightmare. On Saturday, D’Ariya Larry’s name, and everything for which it now represents, will be flying across the field of Protective Stadium on the back of UAB football player Devodric Bynum.

UAB plays Middle Tennessee State at 2:30 p.m. This is homecoming week for UAB, the university with the football team that cheated death, and that means it’s time to break out those incredible Children’s Harbor uniforms that mean so much more than football for Birmingham.

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Isn’t it amazing what happens when people come together to help each other? That’s what UAB football represents to me and so many people in the city. Homecoming is the time to celebrate that, and remember that helping others is what Birmingham and UAB does best.

Birmingham is College Football, USA. There is no city in the country quite like it when it comes to the cross-section of culture and sport. Everyone has a favorite team in this town, and we all get together and watch on the weekends, but it’s the hometown team that has come to stand for something more.

It’s hard to find a person in Birmingham these days who does not identify as a fan of UAB. Here’s why. The Blazers grab at the heart for what they have come to represent: pride, togetherness and resiliency. All of those things are remembered when UAB puts on its specialized homecoming jerseys.

Everyone knows when it’s time for UAB’s homecoming. It’s when the Blazers wear some of the best-looking jerseys in the country. UAB’s lime green and grays hit different every year.

Former UAB coach Bill Clark retired unexpectedly this summer, and Bryant Vincent is the team’s interim head coach. Clark saved UAB football, and then put it on a path for sustained success. He rallied the city. He raised money. UAB built a new football building and practice facility and then the city and county, buoyed by that momentum, finally built a downtown stadium for the Blazers.

All those things are captured in UAB’s homecoming tradition that stands for the names of children in need. It gives greater purpose to why it all matters. It’s Clark’s greatest legacy, other than the team itself, and I was impressed to see him support the tradition this year despite still recovering from back surgery. That lets you know how much it means to him.

UAB has won multiple conference championships since its return, and they’ve been to bowl games every year. Basketball coach Andy Kennedy had his own UAB homecoming in 2020, and has the Blazers poised for huge success this season. All of these things put together led to UAB being invited to join the American Athletic Conference.

These are proud times for UAB, and the future is bright for the university and its city. The Southside Dragons are what I like to call the Blazers. They’re Birmingham’s team, and their motto is “win as one.” For a city divided for so long, and splintered still in so many ways, those are not cheap words.

Celebrate them. Come together for hope, and champions.

For homecoming, every UAB football player wears the name of a brave child who fought to live, and inspired those around them with their spirit. The players and their families attend the game and visit with the team. Bonds are formed. Lives are enriched for both the children and the players.

“When you can play for something bigger than yourself it’s special,” said Bynum, the defensive back representing D’Ariya Larry for homecoming.

There isn’t a better tradition in sports than what UAB football does with its homecoming for families who have been through so much pain and suffering. It’s about serving others, and bringing back their smiles.

D’Ariya Larry needed emergency brain surgery and then weeks of therapy. She had to learn how to walk again. And eat. And talk. But also smile.

“Sometimes I just didn’t want to get up at all,” Larry said.

But she was tough. D’Ariya was brave.

One day D’Ariya and her big smile were thriving, and the next she had a fever that registered over 103 degrees. D’Ariya then had trouble speaking. Her condition worsened still, and she suddenly didn’t know who she was at all.

She forgot everything. D’Ariya was dying and it all came with speed. It was determined that RaShaun’s daughter had a sinus infection that had spread to her brain. Frightening. It caused a condition called intracranial subdural empyema. Bad stuff. She was in the hospital for 33 days.

Birmingham was there to help, and now Birmingham’s team will celebrate her life.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.