submitted by Lindsay
Ryan randomly crossed my mind tonight completely out of nowhere. Nothing triggered it. He just popped into my head, and when that happens, I’ve learned to pay attention. A few of my friends joke that I have some psychic tendencies, and honestly, moments like this make me wonder. He wasn’t the only person who crossed my mind this week for no clear reason, and I haven’t quite figured out why yet, but there’s almost always a reason. Out of curiosity, and hoping he was doing well, I looked Ryan up. I was really sad to learn that he has passed. My deepest condolences to everyone who loved him. We dated briefly in my early twenties. It’s a bit blurry now, but I remember that time fondly. I was really young, and things ended because of poor communication and my own lack of dating experience back then, but I always remembered Ryan as a genuinely sweet and kind person. That never changed in my mind. I also remember him once telling me he didn’t like mirrors, which always stuck with me in a very “Ryan” way.
We bonded a lot over music, always sharing songs and artists and going to a couple of shows together. One memory that still makes me giggle is from when he had just moved into a new apartment and didn’t have a bed yet. We really wanted to see each other, and since I shared a room with a sibling at the time, he couldn’t stay over at my place. So we ended up sleeping on his cold wooden floor together for weeks. It sounds ridiculous looking back, but I didn’t mind at all. I just wanted to be with him.
Ryan was a genuinely sweet and caring person, and I’m grateful for the time we shared, even if it was brief. I’m really sorry for this loss.