First, an update from Ryan's sister Regan who was joined by several of Ryan's family to celebrate Christmas with him in Slidell.
"Erik, Katie, Dave, baby Wesley, Alec and my father and I all went to Trinity to have dinner with Ryan on Christmas Eve. We had the conference room there to ourselves and had a lovely dinner from a nearby steakhouse. Ryan was glad to get a steak and really happy to see everyone. Wesley provided entertainment with some impressive dancing on the table and all of us had some good laughs. Ryan seemed much better than the last time I'd seen him. He was clearly enjoying being with friends and family and laughed hard at the baby's antics. Ryan's hair was longer than I've ever seen it and he looked good. My mother was unfortunately not able to be with us because my grandmother had a stroke just before Christmas and my mother needed to be with her, but we did talk to both my mother and Granny, and Ryan wished them both Merry Christmas. When it was time to go, Dave (Ryan's brother-in-law) asked if Ryan wanted a kiss from him or Wesley and Ryan said as quickly and clearly as could be "Wesley!"
Photographic evidence:
Additionally, I visited Ryan on Sunday to console him (let's be real, I wanted him to console me) on the Saints upcoming vacation schedule. Jan and Ken, some very committed volunteers who have worked with PNOLA for several years running now and both are close with Ryan and worked on his house a lot last year also came with. I continue to be impressed by Ryan's improvement over the past couple of months. It was a great milestone when it became clear that Ryan knew who his family and close friends were (both recognized and remembered). Jan and Ken are folks that Ryan worked with for 4-5 weeks a few years in a row and he immediately knew who they were and was able to place them in the hierarchy of his relationships very quickly.
When we got there, Ryan was not in his room (his new roommate Jack(?) let us know he was in the lunch room). When we walked into the lunch room, Frita was just helping Ryan get set up to chow down on some rice/meat type substance and he spotted us immediately and said hello from across the room. After lunch we returned to Ryan's room so he could watch some tube while he waited to get back into bed from his chair. While the leg cramps started to creep up again, this is the first time I have personally visited Ryan where he didn't yell out at all and only dropped about 15 f-bombs (down about 1000% ; )
Ryan found whatever they were saying on QVC to be hysterical (either that or he was laughing at us). He was able to manage his pain and stay in the conversation and remain upbeat enough to laugh (let's be real, it was really more of a giggle). Obviously, Ryan has the ability to look on the bright side, and offered me some advice.
When I brought up the Saints loss, he pretty quickly advised me to get over it. Of course the Patriots still being in it make it easier for Ryan to come to terms with the Saints loss, but really what he was saying is that football is great no matter who wins or loses and knowing his dad was coming to watch the Giants/Packers game with him (neither team Ryan probably cares about) was very exciting to him.
Ryan is alive in far more than a medical definition at this point. I wouldn't say he is going to be able to carry on monologues any time soon, but it has become clear over the last several weeks that when you visit you aren't just talking at him and smiling/nodding but you're truly visiting and having a conversation. To me, when I used to leave from visiting when Ryan was awake but you weren't sure if he was there, it used to make me miss him more. When I left from visiting on Sunday I didn't feel like that for the first time. I'm very excited to see what is in store in the weeks to come.
It has been more than 8 months since Ryan's accident. Still fresh off of New Years I encourage each of you to think about all that Ryan has gone through in that time and send him a thought sometime this week. He is definitely getting them.
And look on the bright side - as long as they sign Brees there will be a next season!
