Ryan’s Hope: Living On in the Lives of Others

The day started out normally enough. It was May 1, 1997. Ryan was upstairs preparing to leave for school, while his six-year-old sister, Jamie, waited for him at the front door. Suddenly, Ryan started to tell us about Albert Einstein with such enthusiasm and excitement; it was as if a light had gone off in his head. He said, “E=mc2 – I understand what Einstein was saying: the theory of relativity. I understand now!”

I said, “That’s wonderful,” but thought, how odd. It wasn’t his thinking about Einstein – Ryan was so intelligent – but rather, the timing that seemed peculiar.

At the age of 10, Ryan loved knowledge and seemed to have an abundance of it, far beyond his years. The possibilities of the universe were boundless to him. Read more