Ryan's Contact Information - 9.12.06

Ryan Jordan Walters

2002 Budge Hall

Provo, Utah 84604

Cell Number: 303.350.7279

Email: Ryanjordanwalters@gmail.com

Blogspot: Ryanjwalters.blogspot.com

September 12, 2006

September 12, 2006

Dear Friends and Family,

A week from today I’ll be leaving Provo to return to Denver. Remembering how hard it was to leave Whitney, Tyler and Hayley at college, I can only imagine there will be lots of tears. Tears of sadness knowing how much I will miss Ryan and not being able to see him on a daily basis. Also, tears of joy when I think about what Ryan has been able to overcome and the independence he is now experiencing. Given his current circumstances, I can’t imagine a better place for him.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, Ryan moved into his room at Budge Hall and he started school on Tuesday, September 5^th. He received his computer and printer yesterday which we are all thrilled about. He is loving his college experience which I’m sure he will tell you about when he takes over blogging.

Besides school and physical therapy, we’ve been able to meet up with old friends who have moved here from Chicago and Denver. My sister, Shari, and her son, Marc, went to Park City with us a couple of Sundays ago. We also got together at Marv Calls with Byron and Nancy Jackson, Mary and Dave Roskelley, and Jan and Bruce Smith. I was also able to see Julie Oldham for a short visit while Ryan was at Neuroworx.

Last weekend Granny and Grampa were in Salt Lake. They treated us to Rodizio Grill with Alisha and Jacob’s family. It was a fun, relaxing evening not to mention really good food! We always love the time we can spend with Granny and Grampa.

On Saturday, Ryan went to the BYU football game and said it was a lot of fun. He gets awesome seats! Alisha, Riley, Mason and I went to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Pointe. They were amazing!

On Sunday, we went to Stake Conference at the Marriott Center. It was like going to General Conference for me! President Samuelson, Elder Wirthlin, and President Monson spoke. Elder Wirthlin talked about adversity and said that people often ask, “why me?” when something tragic happens when they need to be asking “what’s next?” Again I was reminded of where Ryan is now and grateful he choose to move forward following his accident by starting college and continuing with physical therapy.

After conference on Sunday, we had about sixteen students over for lunch from our wards in Colorado. It was great to have our apartment filled with talking and laughter. What a wonderful group of kids!

On Sunday evening, I was able to reconnect with some friends from the Buffalo Grove Ward, Greg and Trish Zippi, at their home in Alpine. Hayley was a nanny for their four beautiful daughters and baby James shortly before we left Illinois. Now, Elizabeth is leaving for a Spanish speaking mission in California and Emily is at Helaman Halls with Ryan. It was great to also see Brian and Andrew Clement, Jana and Nathan Davis, Ann Taylor, James Embree and the Swartwood family.

In their kitchen, Trish had some greeting cards hung up called “Quoteables,” I would like to share them with you.

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. –Babe Ruth

If you are going through hell, keep going.

The time to repair the roof is while the sun is still shining. – JFK

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

Whatever you are, be a good one.

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet . . . – Roger Miller

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

In the long run, we only hit what we aim at. – Thoreau

Leap and the net will appear.

Everything happens for a reason. – American Proverb

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. – Albert Einstein

Do one thing every day that scares you. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Never, never, never give up.

I’m always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them. – Picasso

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. Theodore Roosevelt

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. – Emerson

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. – Martin Luther

I’m grateful to have been able to write my feelings over the last eight months and share them with you. Thank you again for your love and support.

Love,

Bridgette

The hallway coming into Ryan's room from the mezzanine area outside of his room. Ry's room is especially big and he shares a bathroom with one other student, Mike, who is also a quad. The bathroom is inbetween Mike's and Ryan's rooms. 

Ryan's sink area looking into his room. This weekend we'll have Marc help us move his standing frame into the area under the bulletin board. 

Ryan's desk area -- he just barely fits under the desk in his chair. 

Ryan's leather recliner . . . he enjoyed transferring into the recliner we had in our apartment this summer so we bought one for his dorm room. 

Ryan's 86" XXL twin bed . . . we had to make special sheets but he loves the length! His scripture quilt from the Auburn Hills Ward on the wall. Also a huge box of Lucky Charms on top of three cases of water. Maybe I should have let our kids have sugared cereal growing up . . . it's the first thing they buy when thye go to college! 

View from Ryan's room. . . I think it is looking north toward the baseball fields. 

Some of the neighborhood children checking out Ryan's van. 

Tyler and Ryan at Kate's birthday party. 

Playing the "candy bar" game at Kate's birthday party. 

Ryan in his Toyota Sienna. 

August 31, 2006 - Freedom At Last!

August 31, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

What a difference eight months can make . . . eight months ago Ryan was being transferred from Littleton Hospital to Craig Hospital and now Ryan is in his new dorm room at 2002 Budge Hall. We officially moved him in yesterday and he spent his first night alone (with hundreds of other freshman boys) in the dorms. The last two weeks have been very eventful and the culmination of a lot of hard work and planning have come to fruition.

Ryan successfully completed summer term with an A in Religion and a B in American Heritage. It was great being here in the summer, besides being an absolutely beautiful campus, there were far less students! Ryan went to new student orientation today and met a lot of nice people. As part of the orientation they did the “Cougar Walk” visiting all of the buildings on campus. Needless to say, he was ready for a nap this afternoon.

Ryan’s bishop, Bishop Lytle, stopped by to introduce himself the day we moved in. He is extremely nice and I think Ryan will have a great experience in his student ward. The other students on campus are great to introduce themselves to Ryan. On Friday night, Parker, a friend Ryan met in his new student orientation group, invited Ryan to watch the Stanford/BYU girl’s volleyball game at the Smith Field House. I didn’t go with him but was able to see him on BYU-TV in his front row seat on the volleyball floor. I called Barry and Kaitlyn so they were also able to also see him!

Ryan has aids that come each morning to help him from 7 to 9. We are with the same agency we had this summer so Ryan knows most of his aids. Ryan’s classes begin everyday at 9am. He will be taking a Freshman Academy block which includes Physical Science, Book of Mormon and Honors Writing. He will also be taking an Effective Study and Learning class and Careers for Persons with Disabilities for a total of 12 credits. We are still waiting for Ryan’s computer. He promises me he will take over blogging once a week when he has his computer.

Ryan and I drove to Colorado after his last final on August 17^th. Ryan and Barry spent ten busy days doing the following to get his van ready:

- met twice with Freewheel Vans for equipment/fitting adjustments
- participated in three drivers training sessions with Shad from Craig Hospital
- practiced his driving skills
- passed his written driving test
- passed his skills driving test
- received his drivers license
- tested the van for "dating" purposes (Barry did not participate in this activity)
- returned to Freewheel Vans to remove the temporary drivers training brake
- returned to Freewheel Vans to repair a bent drivers seat rod

Ryan even managed to fit another UTI (urinary tract infection) into his busy schedule. It knocked him out of commission for a full day and we ended up in the Centennial Immediate Care Center to confirm the illness and get the medication he needed. By the next afternoon he was feeling well enough to continue his busy schedule.

We celebrated Kaitlyn’s Sweet Sixteen Birthday with a party the day after we came home. Whitney and Justin donated Whitney’s Subaru to Kate. The Subaru has almost 215,000 miles and looks like its good for another 100,000 miles! Kaitlyn has had a lot of fun detailing the car and is looking forward to getting her driver’s license when she has completed fifty hours of “practice” driving with Barry and me.

One of Ryan’s favorite activities is going to the Denver Zoo with Whitney, Callum, Isabelle and Tate. They chose the perfect day to go because the temperature was in the high 70’s. He was also able to go to the Auburn Hills Ward and see lots of supportive and familiar faces.

Ryan has always been a good driver and does really well with the hand controls in his Toyota Sienna. The only driving modification to his van is a left hand control which Ryan uses to accelerate and brake. Thank goodness for cruise control! Able-bodied drivers can sit in the driver’s seat and still use the manufacturers brake and accelerator. The van floor is also lowered about 12 inches and the driver’s seat swivels, moves up and down and back and forth to make it easy to transfer in and out of his manual chair. He also has a button on his key ring that opens the side door and lowers his ramp, as well as a button to open and close the back hatch. He looks awesome driving his van! I’ll post pictures on the blog.

Ryan and I left Denver on Monday, the 28th -- each driving our own minivans. We stopped in Fort Collins to see Ryan’s friend, John, who was also at Craig. He looks great and will be leaving to spend two weeks at Project Walk in California in the near future. We stayed in Little America, Wyoming, Monday night and drove to Provo on Tuesday.

Other exciting family news, Hayley graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Nursing on Thursday. Congratulations, Hayley! Barry and I were not able to be in Rexburg with Hayley but she had lots of support from her grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, and of course, her husband, Ryan. Hayley and Ryan will be leaving for Portland, Oregon, the middle of September where Ryan will begin chiropractic school.

Saturday, September 2, 2006 – I’m sitting outside of Ryan’s room in the common area on the 2^nd floor at Budge. Ryan is in his room visiting with Dan, a friend he made this summer while at Wyview, and Mike, also a quadriplegic who has the room next to Ryan’s. They are making plans to go see a movie before the Luau and ward party at the Helaman Halls pool tonight. It’s good to see him enjoying new friends and moving forward in his new environment.

Aunt Shari and cousin Marc just came by to visit so we’ll close for now. We hope all is well in your part of the world.

Sunday, September 3, 2006 – I’m having a lot of technical difficulties getting this blog sent but it looks like our internet is working this morning so I’ll finally send this post today. I just returned from going to Ryan’s Sacrament Meeting in his new ward . . . I couldn’t help myself . . . I hadn’t planned to go to his ward but thought a few other parents might be there so I wouldn’t look so conspicuous. It was Fast and Testimony meeting and I was amazed at the depth of the testimonies that were shared. I feel so good about Ryan being at BYU and comforted to know he has a loving Bishopric and fellow students who are trying their best to live the commandments and do what is right. I know this is an environment where Ryan can grow academically as well as spiritually. Again, I am reminded of our many blessings.

With our love,

Bridgette, Barry, Ryan and Kaitlyn

We didn't get any pictures of Mason at his blessing . . . so here he is with his Mom at CPK. 

August 9, 2006

August 9, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

Ryan is at Brother Bott’s Sharing the Gospel class. He has really loved his class and comes home happy and inspired to be a better person. It’s hard to believe that one week from tomorrow Ryan will be taking his American Heritage final and then we will leave Provo to drive home to Denver for a few days.

We’ve had a great time getting together with friends and family during the last week. On Saturday, Ryan, Dan Leslie and I drove to Park City for the Rugby Clinic. Ryan was able to get into a rugby chair and do some skill drills with about thirty other rugby players. He also wanted to scrimmage but isn’t medically cleared to have physical contact until a year post injury. He’s going to have a hard time waiting until December! The Utah Rugby Team (Scorpions) begin practicing on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings in the next couple of weeks. Ryan is eager to practice with them. Handcyclying, now rugby, next he’ll probably want to downhill ski which also looks like a lot of fun.

On Sunday we were able to be with Jacob and Alisha’s family where they blessed Mason. Julie and Jim’s family also drove to American Fork from Idaho for the blessing. Jacob gave Mason a beautiful blessing and we had lunch at a nearby park. It’s great having Alisha’s family so close!

After going to Mason’s blessing, we went to Marv Call’s home after her grandson, Tyson, (Ryan and Beth’s baby) was blessed. It was great to see all of the Call boys, Lyndon flew in from California and Casey flew in from Philadelphia to surprise Ryan and Beth. Calls lived close to us in Chicago and then Denver.

Monday we were back to school and also went to Neuroworx. Hayley and Ryan were in town for Ryan’s family reunion. Hayley came to Neuroworx to see the facility and watch Ryan work out. It’s been great to see her so often this summer. She is also counting down the days until she graduates with her Bachelors of Science in Nursing on August 25^th.

Today Ryan was able to finish registering for fall classes, buy his books, and work with the Accessibility Center to have his texts put onto a CD. I think he feels more confident every day about being in the dorms this fall. Tomorrow we are going to check out Budge Hall, Room 2002, his new home for fall. We also went to the Library Accessibility Center to check it out. We met Alisha, Riley and Mason at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. We are missing Callum, Izzy, Tate and Sydney so it’s great to have Alisha’s kids to love on! They are so darn sweet and Riley loves to take rides in the wheelchair with Ryan.

Our BIG news for the day is that Ryan’s van should be in Denver when we get there Thursday night! His Toyota Sienna is being shipped from the factory in Indiana where they do the conversion package. The van will need minor adjustments from the dealership in Denver before Ryan can drive it. He also needs to drive a few hours with Shad at Craig Hospital and take a driving test with the state of Colorado before its official. Barry has worked really hard to get the van in Colorado so Ryan can do everything he needs to do before driving back in his van to BYU.

Barry continues to work with the insurance company, architect and prospective builder. We’ve had some bumps along the way and I’m sad to say our remodeling project has yet to begin.

We are both excited to be home a couple of days before Tyler, Rebecca and baby Sydney return to Virginia. It will also be good to celebrate Kaitlyn’s 16^th Birthday with her friends and family.

We hope you are all having a great summer!

With our love, Bridgette, Barry, Ryan and Kaitlyn

A happy Riley riding with Ryan on his chair. 

Riley, Alisha, Mason and Ryan at CPK. 

Ryan throw a ball into a basket while Halyley looks on. Ryan is practicing on balancing.  

Kasey, Lyndon, Marv, Drew, Kevin and Ryan. 

Ryan Walters with Kasey, Lyndon, Marv, Drew Kevin and Ryan Call. 

Ryan doing a quad rugby drill. 

August 4, 2006

August 4, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s late Friday night and we just got home from having dinner with Lynn Lynes and Ryan Cook and watching “The Grapes of Wrath” for American Heritage. We’ve had a busy week since we last wrote. It hardly seems possible that Ryan only has six more days of classes and then finals before summer term is over. Everyone warned us the time would go quickly and it really has zipped by.

We had company last Friday night in the form of a two-year-old niece (I can’t bring myself to say “great niece” YIKES!) Riley, Alisha and Jacob’s daughter. They moved into their home in American Fork so we kidnapped Riley on Friday night and enjoyed her most of the day on Saturday.

On Saturday, we had Lynn and Ryan over for dinner and to study for the second American Heritage midterm. Ryan, Lynn and Ryan are an unlikely threesome but they have a lot of fun together while they study. On Sunday, Shane and Jacie Summers and Jackie’s roommate, along with Vinnie Meyer came for dinner. They always bring a lot of laughter into our apartment. On Monday, Ryan ran into Stephanie Hillier and her brother, Christopher, and their grandmother in the Wilkinson Center. Stephanie is here for a LaCrosse camp and also for EFY. On Tuesday, Ryan had his second American Heritage midterm. Ryan does the multiple choice section on his own and then dictates his answers to me for the essay portion. That night we had Daniel Leslie, Alex (Dan’s roommate), Ryan Beaushaw (from Baileys in Colorado), and Matt Chandler over for dinner. Daniel is also a quadriplegic from Evergreen, Colorado, and also rehabilitated at Craig. Dan has a great demeanor. He is in the MAC program and is going on to law school when he is finished. Dan lives in our same complex and he and Ryan have a great time together.

On Wednesday, Ryan and I went to see Ryan’s cousin, Marc Michaud, at his work. Marc is amazing with cars and works for a company that makes and installs turbo packages and restores cars in his free time. Marc came for dinner that night and the boys are planning to get together while they are both in the Provo area.

Ryan is building a lot of muscle in his biceps and triceps as well as his shoulders. He works really hard at therapy and gives it all he has. I’ll post pictures of him transferring from the floor to his chair. When you think about moving your whole body with only your arms and shoulders it’s pretty amazing.

Tomorrow, we are off to Park City for a Quad Rugby Clinic sponsored by the National Abilities Center. There are skill drills in the morning and a lecture in the afternoon to talk about how Quad Rugby got started and the rules of the game. Ryan is really looking forward to going and Dan is coming along, too.

Over the past week, I’ve been working on a scrapbook with all of the cards, notes and letters that Ryan received while he was at Craig as well as compiling all of the past blog postings and updating our photo album. As I’ve read your notes my heart continues to be filled with gratitude for the love you have shown us throughout the past seven months. Ryan would not be where he is today without your support.

I would like to close tonight with a favorite quote from Tyler’s wife, Rebecca.

…may each of us know where he is going, be willing to make the

continuous effort required to get there, avoid any detour, and

be willing to pay the often very high price of faith and determination

to win life’s race.” Thomas S. Monson

With our love,

Bridgette, Barry and Ryan

Ryan, Lynn and Ryan . . . the American Heritage posse. 

Ryan Cook and Ryan Walters at Lynn's house before the movie. 

Ryan acting like a goofball with his legs crossed after successfully getting into his chair with no help. 

Ryan pulling his body up into the chair. 

Ryan turning around in the chair. 

Ryan almost to the top of his chair before he turns himself over to sit down. 

Matt spotting Ryan while Jeanette makes sure his chair doesn't move. 

Crawling up on the chair.