In Memory of Ryan Graham -- 9/16/1984 - 2/27/2009
Ryan, you were the best younger brother I never had. I found this audio footage of us during your trip to Poland that I recorded on my cell phone. It is not perfectly audible, but what can be understood beautifully captures your spirit.
http://www.rolyholyover.com/music/ryan_in_poland.mp3
You came to San Francisco, MY city at the time, in August, 2005, bright-eyed and excited to start a new life. For a while, it became OUR city, as you helped me rediscover and appreciate the sparkling city anew.
When I decided to move to Poland, knowing that I was leaving you behind in California was the single most bittersweet element in my decision to move. Bitter, because I knew I would miss our frequent outings, discovery of new culinary experiences, and your tireless optimism about a city that I was starting to feel jaded about. Sweet, because I knew that you would be one of the first people to visit me in my new home.
During your stay in Poland, you immediately won the hearts of my friends and even made new friends who became MY friends. We will always think of the ease with which you made this foreign place your home. We all looked forward to your next trip here, and I hoped that you might one day consider making Europe your home.
I debated a long time about whether to write this next paragraph at all. It is heartbreaking to think of the future you might have had; however, I feel that I need to write some things with regard to these possibilities which now no longer exist. I still believe that living in Europe would have had a tremendously positive influence on you. My vision of our future had us reconnecting here at regular intervals, a trip from Krakow to London (or Paris, or Ibiza, or Hvar, or any of the hundreds of other places in which you would have felt at home) being as easy to plan as a hop between any two major US cities. I know that I am not alone in feeling this, as I have heard the same sentiments from some of the many friends you made during your journeys overseas.
Wherever you are, I hope you know that the list of people who love and miss you dearly is longer than you know. We will meet again sometime, somewhere, in another life, enriched with the wisdom we gained from this one.
posted by rolywholyover at 7:29 AM
1 Comments:
Brian, that was just beautiful...
You knew the real Ryan and I'm so glad you guys spent so much time together. You were the big brother he never had.
I have spent the last five days going through and downloading all of Ryan's photographs. At the exact same time I received your blog with the great photo of you two in Poland, the rest of the shots from that same night were scrolling by on my mac...the smiles, the dogs, the cookout and the candlelight.
I am only finding out now, as I look through thousands of photographs from all over the world and coast to coast in the USA and Canada, what a gifted photographer he was. Some of his landscape shots are just incredible. I have to smile at his shots of doorways, interesting doorknobs and street signs and store windows, as he used to tease me so about shooting things like that. When you view all the photographs in order as they are taken, you follow his steps around the world and see all he saw day by day.
I have set up a blog and will be posting for all to see, the best of all his travel photographs.
And eventually photos of him with all his friends.
Narrowing the photos down has proven difficult, there are thousands.
I'm sure many of them were taken by you and others, it's a great collection that will give all a peek at what an incredible time he had in such a short life - and how he truly did love life.
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