Growing up, I was always the annoying younger cousin. I cried a lot and tattled on everybody. I might have even locked a couple cousins out of their house because they wouldn’t play with me. I was aware of my annoying behavior. But it took a turn for me when Ryan told me “when you turned 15, you turned cool”. I tried to play it off like that wasn’t the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. But that moment was ingrained in my brain as soon as the words left his mouth.

The most special thing about Ryan is that he was able to create such special relationships with anyone he met. He made people feel comfortable. I could tell him my secrets and insecurities and know for a fact he would never tell another person. He was seriously one of the best people I’ve ever known.

Ryan, I’m going to miss making fun of Kevin and Tony’s dance moves with you. Laughing in the corner of rooms with you. I’ll miss seeing you walk into a party or picking me up from the airport. I’m going to miss sitting on your living room floor listening to you sing. I’m going to miss telling you that you are my favorite cousin and I’m so glad I told you that while you were here.

I just want to thank you for always being kind to me. Thank you for always making me feel comfortable and safe. Thank you for giving me so many memories that make me smile and laugh just thinking about them. I will never forget you and I’ll never stop sharing stories about you. I love you and I’ll miss you always.

Words from 10

In a lot of ways Ryan was the best compliment to me,

I like planning things, he liked doing things

I can be super high strung, he was always so chill

I love watching sports, he loved watching me freak out at sports,

And we went through the awkward emo phase together.

Ryan always made me laugh,
One funny memory I have with Ryan, and honestly I might be the only one that finds it funny. But, we were in Toronto, getting ready to go out to the bars, and he just randomly threw his phone , looked mad, and said, I’m done with this place and I was like.. what’s wrong bro? He said, I just checked the weather, this shit is in celsius.

I’ll miss those one liners more than anything. I love you, 5.

Words from 8

I always loved how Ryan was interested in so many different things.

He loved video games,
He loved sports,
For some reason he loved Patrick Mahomes
He was a giant in the Yu-Gi-Oh community
he watched a bunch of different shows, animes and movies.
He listened to all sorts of music
And he loved making music.
He watched kdramas
He liked musicals
He loved going to the casino
And he loved all sorts of foods.
As long as it didn’t include a slice of cheese inside of a burger.

Ryan just enjoyed so many things in life.

I think that was part of the reason how and why he connected so easily with so many different people.

And once anyone connected with Ryan, they knew immediately that he was genuinely a great guy. He was so easy to talk to and was always there for anyone. No matter what it was, he would always be there.

About 5 years ago when I still lived in Florida, I was working a customer service job. One Monday I was drained from being yelled at all day so I needed to vent on the drive home.

So of course, I called Ryan and like always he answered.

Ryan was always a great listener and it felt good to let everything out. Afterwards we got to catch up and talk about the usual stuff. Like game of thrones, games we were playing and how drunk he and Kevin got that weekend and ended up at Rachels

This was such time well spent that it became a weekly thing without us even declaring it.

Every Monday on the drive home from work, I would call Ryan or Ryan would call me. We continued to do that for like 3 months.

Mondays were always the worst but it became a day that I looked forward to.

It was always great to talk to Ryan and I’m going to miss that. I wish I could tell him how much those phone conversations meant to me.

I feel like he always had some kind of unique connection like that with everyone he was close to.

I talked to one of my best friends after all of this happened. He unfortunately had to go through this as well when his brother passed away.

He told me that what always comforted him was knowing that his brother’s influence lives through him.

I’m going to miss Ryan and I feel like life won’t ever be the same without him.

But I know that Ryan was a brother to his friends and all of us cousins,

So it is comforting to know that I’ll see Ryan in each of us.

Words from 10

Words from 8

Words from 9