Hi Ryder!
Ryder was light and benevolence
and pure.
I dropped Ryder off at the babysitter
and she put him down for a nap.
Gave him a bottle.
And she said all of a sudden
he went like really still
she got up to check on him
and he was purple.
The prognosis was that
he had a 30% chance of
of living through the nights.
So not having control of the health
of your child, it's so against
you know what we think is as parents.
I think I started grabbing control
when I started putting
Ryder's story out there
and that started within the first week
of him being there.
CMN was there in the beginning
and I remember looking on
on the ventilator
and it said donated by CMN.
Children's Miracle
Network is a really
wonderful organization that supports
lots of different organizations
within our hospital.
Megan's goal was to leave
no stone unturned in giving Ryder
every opportunity to get better.
Our team came alongside her
and said, what things are missing
and how do we help
to build a plan of care?
In my mind, I just had to help
Ryder be the best Ryder he could be.
Not the best typical child he could be.
We would plant sunflowers
every every spring
and we would go fishing.
We would go on walks.
We took him to Gettysburg and walked
the battle grounds with him.
That's what to me equated a good life
was having experiences
with those that love you.
That's what I tried to share
with with Ryder.
Ryder and Heaton have an amazing bond
that I will never be able
to explain or comprehend.
That was them.
Heaton took charge and Heaton
pushed his wheelchair.
It was normal to him
to just do those things.
I like when.
When we went up to Aunt
Erin's, I used to like
show him around the place
and like sometimes when I went to school
and pushed him around a lot
and when he came to my school
I pushed him around.
We just had like fun like this,
staying with each other.
18 months before
he passed away, I remember.
That summer just thinking
something's different.
You know there's a different
look in his eye.
I didn't know how to navigate this part,
so that's when the call
to Hummingbird came in.
I think what's most important
to all of the team
members that work with Hummingbird team
is to meet families
wherever they are at on the road.
And to journey along with them,
wherever the journey takes them.
Since Ryder has passed.
I have a hard time.
Letting stillness be stillness.
I miss the way he fit on me.
And I miss
just like hearing him breathe.
He had the most beautiful blue eyes.
So I miss like looking at his eyes.
Or just breathing
in the same air he breathed.
For our families
that go through end of life
that's remarkably difficult
part of the journey.
But we go alongside them
so that they're not alone
so that we can support them
in that difficult time as well.
To that younger Megan.
Enjoy him.
And that part I think she got OK.
She did OK with that.
She enjoyed him.