Hey All:

We are doing better and finding ways to moved forward. As this is not only my blog but our ‘place’ to memorialize family memories, I am honored to share my Mama’s words about our Ryan.

Good Job Mama, your fierce bravery astounds us.

Good afternoon. I’m Judi Bishop, Ryan’s mom. Thank you for coming to celebrate my amazing son. A special thanks to all of you who have been so supportive of our family during this difficult Mito journey.

Many of you knew Ryan when he was a great athlete, an outstanding football player and skier, an intelligent, dedicated and successful businessman and a wonderful friend. He loved sailing, scuba diving, and hiking. He spent a month in the Wind River with NOLS.

He had an infectious laugh, an awesome sense of humor and a love of travel and adventure.

Once his illness progressed, he became a stay at home Dad to his 3 sons. Many of you only knew him as the man using the walker or in a wheelchair with a limited ability to speak. But that was not who he was.

Ryan’s love for the outdoors began as a toddler. One of his first words was “outside”, standing at the back door. My Mom said the only time she saw him clean was first thing in the morning and right before bed. He was always playing outside. Someone gave him a white blanket with white satin binding which
immediately became his favorite, of course. It was always dirty and mostly gray. He would sit in front of the washer and dryer until he could get it back. That blanket and his light colored “beary” bear were constantly with him. Beary now resides with his boys but his blankie was “loved” to shreds.

When Ryan began skiing he refused to go to lessons. He spent his first 2 years on the slopes skiing between my legs. Then, one day, he decided to go on his own and took off parallel skiing. He became one of the best bump skiers I have ever seen and loved being on the mountain with the Jr. Ski Patrol in Winter Park.

As an adult, he rafted the Grand Canyon with us twice. The first trip he asked everyone one their opinion on the best way to propose to his wife (aka Sweets). He was very serious about everyone’s opinion and proposed to her after that trip. The 2nd time, he and Sweets both rafted the Canyon with us. I am pretty sure there were a few times Sweets thought she might meet her demise on the trip but she was a trooper and celebrated her birthday on the river.

Once Ryan’s disease progressed, he needed a service dog (aka SD). He became aware of SD but the training for Ryan and SD required weekly trips to Silverthorne. Ryan and I made these weekly trips for months. We loved the time we spent driving up the mountain, having lunch and training with his trainer and his pupper. Later, we drove up to work with the Humane Society in Summit County, showing grade school kids “working” dogs. Ryan loved doing this.

In his last days he asked Colleen, his Godmother, for chili rellenos. She ordered them from the Brewery Bar. We told him we would pick them up at 11 and be there by 12:30. At noon, my cell phone rang wondering where we were. He thought we would be there at 11 and had been impatiently waiting. Once there, we brought him a chili relleno, a beef burrito and green chili. He then wanted to know where his margarita was. So, we made him a margarita.

One of his last requests was for a queen bed on the outdoor deck. He requested it on Thursday morning. By 1:00 in the afternoon, the family had rallied and Ryan had a place to rest outside. Ryan was in it in no time and loved being back outdoors again. He passed on the outdoor mattress with a light breeze blowing over him.

During his whole illness, he never lost his sense of humor, his love for Jen and their boys, his family, his service dog, and his love of Chex Mix.

Ryan was a brave, loyal, loving son, brother, husband and dad. His boys and his wife were his greatest joys. He loved hero and super hero movies like Star Wars, Superman, The Avenger and James Bond movies. But Ryan was our superhero. Please honor Ryan by being your own kind of superhero, the best self you can be. Live life to its fullest, love, travel and work to fulfill your dreams. His spirit lives on with us.