• Ryan was the coolest kid in the neighborhood. Everyone knew him and his heart overflowed with the love he felt for all his friends. He knew he was lucky for the life he'd been given. Parents in the town admired him for being so polite; such a good friend to their children. Ryan always saved time to play games with the kids who looked lonely or sad.
    He knew God, and was close to Him in prayer. He helped people every time the opportunity presented itself.

    He had a little sister named Lilia who eagerly followed his every move. Her goal in life was to be just like her big brother Ryan. Just like her role model. Ryan and Lilia spent a lot of time together: having secret sleepovers in one of their rooms after the lights were out, talking about TV shows and board games, playing basketball in the driveway.

    Time passed and they grew even closer, even more thankful for eachother's presence. Ryan was a senior in highschool, and it was Lilia's freshman year.

    Ryan wasn't as popular as he used to be, at least not in the same way. He was involved in many activities devoted to helping others. He was very smart in school and he excelled in the fine arts. He was in choir, multiple drawing classes, and he played french horn in the band. He was close to all of his teachers and had good support from his friends.

    He didn't hang with "the crowd" because he just... wasn't like that. He didn't find joy in using a swear word in every sentence. He didn't go to parties every night like the football team did, especially since they had alcohol and drugs available. He only wanted to be successful, and he believed wearing $300 purposefully ripped jeans with a "hot chick" glued to his side was not going to get him anywhere in life.

    Doing the right thing all the time is what did get Ryan somewhere in life. People adored him for his decisions and his attitude. And the people that were disgusted by his "lack of high school manliness" just didn't matter to him. He was ready take life by the horns and do something important. He was ready to go to college and move away from home.

    Until one day at the doctor, when they discovered that Ryan had melanoma. It was already a Stage 4 cancer. Ryan was devastated, and all the people who cared about him, which was almost everyone he knew, couldn't believe this happened. But on that day, he was given a week, at most, to finish his journey on Earth. He was put on life support and had a 10% chance to make it through those next 7 days.

    A few hard days squeezed by, and Ryan was at his final hours.

    On the seventh day, Ryan opened his eyes one last time, saw Lilia staring right back, and then closed them, as if blinking back a tear.

    And on that seventh day, he rested.


    Ryan was truly an inspiration for all who met him and all who heard this story.