It was my freshman year. I had not yet turned 15. On a Friday night I had just left a Choral Concert Rehearsal. It was about 7 o'clock p.m, roughly, just getting dark. My parents were walking me to the car and my mom said, "Your friend Ryan Lee was hit by a car, I think he is in the hospital." I have another friend in my town who's name is Ryan Lea.
So I replied with, "I hope he's okay, but I'm not really friends with Ryan, so I don't know him that well."
My mom corrected me, "No, Ryan Lee, the golfer."
I responded, "Oh, it's Ryan, he'll get through this."
I went home and found out more information. It turns out he was having surgery on his brain to stop the inflammation, and he was his quite hard on the head. Still, I believe Ryan would get through everything. I could never think of Ryan in a negative manner. Ryan had the surgery, and I went through the weekend. Monday at school I received word that Ryan was not in good shape, and was in a coma. I still believed. I told my mom everything would be okay, Ryan would get through this. I spoke with a senior at the time who went to KO, John Paldino. Josh was from my hometown, Berlin, and knew Ryan as well. We told each other that Ryan would be okay, and we would see each other in the morning.
Tuesday morning comes. Ryan doesn't seem to be doing well. I get a phone call from my mother explaining this. Then she calls me crying. She had heard a rumor that Ryan had passed. The rumor was not true, and for the moment, everything has not crashed down. So I go about the school day, it was all a blur.
I get out of school, and my mom drives me to the golf course. It was almost, meant to be. I got to Timberlin Golf Club. My golf coach was going to play with me that day. He is also Ryan's golf coach. He is the reason me and Ryan met. He was 69 years old at the time. He looks at me and says, "I'm sorry John, but I can't play."
This man then broke down. He had taught Ryan how to play ever since he was a little boy.
Ryan had become virtually brain dead and his parents decided to let him pass.
I learned the news at the place that was Ryan's second home. My second home. The place I met Ryan. The place he taught me everything. The place a little boy looked up to a young man and saw someone who could do no wrong. This little boy saw someone who was "cool". Someone he wanted to be just like.
Ryan T. :Lee was 19 years old. It was April 26th, 2011. It was a sunny day. I have never cried a greater cry in my life. Ryan was killed by a taxi cab while he was crossing the street to go to eat on Easter night in NYC. He played golf on scholarship for Long Island University. We shared the same golf coach, and Ryan made golf colorful in my eyes. I did not want to play golf, because I thought it was boring. But, when I met Ryan at the age of 8, I realized it could be colorful. Ryan didn't just wear colorful clothes, but he wore a colorful soul. Ryan was an organ donor. I'm sure he saved lives due to his generosity,
The next week, Thousands attended Ryan's wake and funeral. I could not imagine a more beloved figure. We all know that one kid who no one has anything bad to say about. The kid who just makes you smile and you want to be around because they offer only brightness. Ryan was loved by so many communities, I could only start to explain. His parents were broken down, lowest of the low, but they would not allow you to see it. The community should have been the one picking them up, but they were picking us up. It is no surprise such a great young man came from parents like Dan and Theresa.
The Lee's and friends helped set up the Ryan T. Lee Foundation. The foundation helps fund several charities by hosting events like the Ryan T. Lee Golf Classic, Ryan Lee 3v3 Basketball Tourney, and the Ryan T. Lee Basketball Clinic. The money raised from these events go to many charities including a scholarship fund for public school high school golfers, and organ donation.
The Lee family created hope for others, even when it seemed like life was hopeless for them. Whenever, I remember Ryan, I think of memories that make me laugh and smile. Ryan lived a great life that had such a great impact on the world in such a short amount of time. Ryan taught me to dress colorful. To be skinny with pride. To not care what others think. To be a golfer. To be a young man. To be me.
Ryan was my mentor, and I feel honored to have spent time with him on Earth. The day he died changed my life forever, but with every bad in the world, there is a good. I had always known the story of Cody Paldino, another young man that shared the same golf coach as me. My golf coach had a very small amount of students, so he was more like a grandfather. We are close to him, his name is Chuck. Cody Paladino lives behind me. He is the most talented golfer that Central Connecticut has ever seen. He lived behind me, and my golf coach had become the biggest father figure in his life. My golf coach spent pretty much all of his time with Cody, traveling to tournaments around the country, and acting as a father, because Cody's was no longer apart of the family. Cody was a nationally ranked player. He was the runner up at the U.S Public Links tournament. If you are not aware, the winner of that tournament gets an invitation to The Masters (the most prestigious golf tournament in the world/ Super Bowl of Golf). Cody went to KO and graduated in 2007. He signed to play golf at Baylor University on full scholarship. I never really knew Cody, because he was much older and left my golf coach for another in college. By 2011, he went back to working with my golf coach, and I started to play with him. He lives behind me, as we share backyards. We are now great friends and have built a relationship that continues to grow. We share many connections, and with the death of Ryan, it seemed that a new relationship was born.
Ryan was the first person I ever played 18 holes with. First young man I ever saw who played golf. I'm the golfer I am because of Ryan. Most of everything I learned on how to be a golfer was based off of Ryan. He made life brighter for others, and I miss him. That day made me realize that life can't be taken for granted, and that life should be lived to the fullest. I hope some day I can meet him again on the back 9, and he can continue where he left off. He still has much to teach me. Life is precious, it can be gone in an instant. Ryan's life is not over, it just lives on in others rather than one.
The next week, Thousands attended Ryan's wake and funeral. I could not imagine a more beloved figure. We all know that one kid who no one has anything bad to say about. The kid who just makes you smile and you want to be around because they offer only brightness. Ryan was loved by so many communities, I could only start to explain. His parents were broken down, lowest of the low, but they would not allow you to see it. The community should have been the one picking them up, but they were picking us up. It is no surprise such a great young man came from parents like Dan and Theresa.
The Lee's and friends helped set up the Ryan T. Lee Foundation. The foundation helps fund several charities by hosting events like the Ryan T. Lee Golf Classic, Ryan Lee 3v3 Basketball Tourney, and the Ryan T. Lee Basketball Clinic. The money raised from these events go to many charities including a scholarship fund for public school high school golfers, and organ donation.
The Lee family created hope for others, even when it seemed like life was hopeless for them. Whenever, I remember Ryan, I think of memories that make me laugh and smile. Ryan lived a great life that had such a great impact on the world in such a short amount of time. Ryan taught me to dress colorful. To be skinny with pride. To not care what others think. To be a golfer. To be a young man. To be me.
Ryan was my mentor, and I feel honored to have spent time with him on Earth. The day he died changed my life forever, but with every bad in the world, there is a good. I had always known the story of Cody Paldino, another young man that shared the same golf coach as me. My golf coach had a very small amount of students, so he was more like a grandfather. We are close to him, his name is Chuck. Cody Paladino lives behind me. He is the most talented golfer that Central Connecticut has ever seen. He lived behind me, and my golf coach had become the biggest father figure in his life. My golf coach spent pretty much all of his time with Cody, traveling to tournaments around the country, and acting as a father, because Cody's was no longer apart of the family. Cody was a nationally ranked player. He was the runner up at the U.S Public Links tournament. If you are not aware, the winner of that tournament gets an invitation to The Masters (the most prestigious golf tournament in the world/ Super Bowl of Golf). Cody went to KO and graduated in 2007. He signed to play golf at Baylor University on full scholarship. I never really knew Cody, because he was much older and left my golf coach for another in college. By 2011, he went back to working with my golf coach, and I started to play with him. He lives behind me, as we share backyards. We are now great friends and have built a relationship that continues to grow. We share many connections, and with the death of Ryan, it seemed that a new relationship was born.
Ryan was the first person I ever played 18 holes with. First young man I ever saw who played golf. I'm the golfer I am because of Ryan. Most of everything I learned on how to be a golfer was based off of Ryan. He made life brighter for others, and I miss him. That day made me realize that life can't be taken for granted, and that life should be lived to the fullest. I hope some day I can meet him again on the back 9, and he can continue where he left off. He still has much to teach me. Life is precious, it can be gone in an instant. Ryan's life is not over, it just lives on in others rather than one.
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