My reply comes so naturally now, “Ryan Rendleman. He was one of my best friends,” it’s been the same thing everyday since last Tuesday.
I had waited to post. I had to think about what I was going say about Ryan. This blog is public, it’s history, and today, it is a memorial.
I’m more than honored to be, I will never say to have been, Ryan’s friend. I taught him about photography and he taught me about life.
We shared a lot of great moments.
Working together on the aerobatic team currents was the first time I ever really got to know Ryan. We didn’t really become friends until he declared himself a photographer and we started working side-by-side.
Our trip to Cairo, Ill. was impromptu and now, important. So many great pictures of Ryan being Ryan came out of that trip. Alexis, Ryan, and I explored, photographed and ate Nonny’s.
Pictures from that trip were what the Southern Illinoisan and local television crews used to show who Ryan was. All the pictures used by the media were mine. My friend Wendy Weinhold notified me. She asked me how I felt about it.
It means a lot to know that people will always remember your friend the way you saw them, the way they were composed in the frame. My moments with Ryan are how others will remember him. That’s moving.
2 comments:
every day i'm so thankful i was a part of the cairo moment.
You and Ryan are blessings in what has been a rather bleak year. I probably would have starved if "we" (as Ryan liked to refer to me...the royal we) hadn't cooked curry at my house this spring. Lucky news for you friend: There's a loaf of banana bread with Ryan's name on it that will wait for you in the newsroom tomorrow.
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