We were living up the street from Ryan's HS in fact most of our family went to Mt Miguel HS in Spring Valley. Sometimes I would hear this wonderful trumpet playing coming from the HS. Another wonderful artist gone to soon.
My daughters band director shared your story with me. Watching it touched my heart because of my connection to your story. I am not a musician with a rare disease, I am the mother of a young musician with a rare disease. I am lucky to have a daughter with such beautiful talents and am very proud of my daughter. And I would give ANYTHING to take her place in this battle. You mentioned a whole new set of emotions after diagnosis. That statement is so true but didn't realize it. After her diagnosis we tried to continue as normal as possible. Practicing her flute in her room was a regular, normal activity. But after diagnosis, the first time she started practicing as I listened to her play my eyes drenched in tears the whole time. Last year, sixth grade, she decided this was her "thing". She wanted to be noticed, she wanted to pursue a future with her music, singing and acting. This year, seventh grade, she got noticed but not for the reasons she wanted. She doesn't want to be " the sick kid", she doesn't want to be "the kid that can't find a bone marrow donor". She doesn't want this kind of attention, she just wants to be Emily, the nice kid with talent. It was her band directors, teachers and fellow band mates who eased her worries about the thoughts of her peers and showed her that she does have a support group, that her peers understand her difficulties, her peers stand beside her and support her. Music can help to heal the heart and help a difficult situation seem less difficult. Thank you for sharing your story! facebook.com/EmilysMarchForAMatch, #EmilysMarchForAMatch
Such an amazing trumpet player, musician and the human being...great example for many how to maintain being positive and be thankful for each day despite death fast approaching to him... It's only God be able to fix all of that and bring back these individuals...
Ryan, I have no double in my mind that you will be sitting in that second row to the last seat for a very long time and continue making beautiful music.
