My perspective on life is so different now. I try not to let the little things bother me (although I am not always good at it). I find myself longing for heaven; wishing that the trumpets would sound, Jesus would gather us home, and this life would be over. What a wonderful and glorious day that will be!
I recently created a book for Lily and Wyatt called The ABC's of Daddy. I thought I would share the different things about Ryan with all of you (minus the pictures). For those of you who did not know Ryan, enjoy getting to know him a little more. For those of you who did know Ryan, I hope you enjoy remembering these different things about him.
- A is for Attitude: Daddy had the most amazing attitude about life. No matter what he was facing, Daddy always tried to stay positive.
- B is for Bears...Chicago Bears: Daddy loved football and his favorite team, the Bears. He taught you to say "touchdown" and he was so delighted when you wore your Bears' gear.
- C is for Chicago Cubs: The Chicago Cubs were Daddy's baseball team of choice! He even threw out the first pitch at a game when he was 10.
- D is for Daddy: Being you Daddy was a dream come true! You brought so much joy to Daddy's life -- with the 3 of you in the same room, there was bound to be laughter!
- E is for Excellent: Daddy, Husband, Son, Brother, Friend: Daddy was excellent in all of these roles!
- F is for Fantastic: Faith, Family, Friends, Football, Finances...all fantastic things in your Daddy's life!
- G is for Generous: Daddy loved to give, whether it was for fun or for need! He was such a generous person and wanted to help out in any way that he could!
- H is for Humor: Those who knew Daddy well knew that he loved to laugh! He had such a great sense of humor.
- I is for Inventions: Daddy was always inventing silly little songs to go with your stories and toys -- they always made you smile! He also created crazy block toys for you.
- J is for Jesus: Daddy loved Jesus! He is in heaven with him today. He loved to read you your bible and teach you about Jesus too!
- K is for Kristin: Daddy loved Kristin (that's Mommy)! Daddy was a great husband who always tried to do things to get Mommy to smile. (and Mommy loved Daddy too!)
- L is for Lily Grace: Lily was Daddy's little girl for day 1! She had Daddy's personality and his sense of humor. He loved Lily so much!
- M is for Movies: Daddy had a great interest in movies -- he even wrote movie scripts and thought about becoming a film producer. Your Daddy had many hidden talents!
- N is for Never Complain: Daddy never complained. Even when he faced tough stuff, Daddy always stayed positive!
- O is for Others: Daddy always put others first -- especially you and Mommy! (He also loved OREOS!)
- P is for Patient: Daddy was the most patient person I know! He also loved being around people and he had a huge passion for politics!
- Q is for Questions: Daddy would always ask questions: to make sure that he understood things or just to get others to see things from a different perspective.
- R is for Responsible: Daddy was always responsible when it came to the tasks set before him! He would also proudly announce that he was a republican!
- S is for Smile: Daddy had a great smile! You could see it any time he talked about sports or Spider-Man. He was one of the most selfless people and he loved surprises!
- T is for Time: Daddy's favorite thing to do was spend time with you! He would play with you, read you books, sing you songs and make up stories for you. It didn't matter what you did, if he was spending time with you, Daddy was happy!
- U is for Understanding: Daddy was an understanding person -- he always tried to see things from someone else's perspective.
- V is for Victory: Watching sports was one of Daddy's favorite things to do, especially when his teams were victorious!
- W is for Wyatt Ryan: Wyatt was Daddy's little buddy! He loved to sit and cuddle with Daddy or have him read books. He love Wyatt very much!
- X is for eXtraordinary
- Y is for Youthful
- Z is for Zany
(There was no room to explain X, Y, and Z in the kids book, but I am sure you could come up with your own descriptions of why Ryan was extraordinary, youthful and zany!)
8 comments:
What a great gift you have given to Lily and Wyatt and to all of us who have had the privilege of reading it. As a family, we continue to pray for you daily. Thanks also for your prayers & support of our family.
-Jennifer
Kristin - that is awesome..... how wonderful for your kids to have you as their mom - you loved their father immensly - and it shows!! I love that you share that with them ALWAYS! Thanks for sharing part of your special husband and daddy with us who didn't know him!
that is absolutely amazing...you are such a wonderful mommy and such an inspiration to me.
What a great book, Kristin! I am sure that will be the kids' favorite book as they grow up. As I read it I could hear and see Ryan doing so many of those things. What a creative way to preserve precious memories! You are still prayed for constantly, and I too cannot believe that it has been four months. I am sending hugs your way.
kristin
what an AMAZING idea that is!!! do you mind if i borrow it? i would love for the kids to remember the little things that seth did/was and for his 2 younger siblings who never met him! thanks for the great idea and for sharing ryan with those of us who never were blessed to have known him. praying for you at this 4 month mark - i remember that mark as being especially difficult...not really sure why it just was. lifting you up on our prayers....
jolynn
what a wonderful thing to do, such a treasure for them to have
I don't know your family, but I follow your blog often. You are such an inspiration. Your faith in God and devotion to understanding His will is so wonderful.
What a great gift for your kids. It will be a forever treasure to them. Thanks for letting us get to know Ryan a little bit better too. :)
I tagged you in a post...
Still praying for you guys!
Post a Comment