Remembering Ryan Klesh

A place for friends to remember, share stories and pictures, and express our love and appreciation for the life and times of the legendary Ryan P. Klesh. Please keep your posts coming -- we all need to hear more about the greatness of Ryan. Sharing your stories keeps more parts of him alive. Thank you.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

I think continually of those who were truly great.


I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light where the hours are suns
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the Spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.

What is precious is never to forget
The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
Nor its grave evening demand for love.
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how these names are fêted by the waving grass
And by the streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life
Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.
Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.

Stephen Spender

Monday, May 15, 2006

A Month Gone

Saturday, May 13, 2006

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one



Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Falling To Pieces

Several years ago I fell victim to the weekly “indoor beer tastings” of the “Play House” and the friendship of the crazy Irish bastards that lived there (Brian, Ryan, and Ed…though Ed and I had some tough times regarding certain items of girly colored sports memorabilia). Though I’m zero percent Irish, my name is; so they were fooled and they let me in. Big mistake, if you value your beer supply (and light fixtures and windows)! I frequented that house and the times we had together were great. Every time I’d enter the house, Ryan was there to greet me with his sinful laugh and his rock star yell, “AHHHHHH Clancy, you crazy bastard!” And at that moment, life was good, and the beer tasting would begin.

Over the short period that I knew him, Ryan became a damn good friend. I’ve always admired his sense of humor, sincerity, and his unrelenting fondness and acceptance of the people around him, regardless of their life’s story. I guess I didn’t have to tell you that, because his goodness was very apparent. Life’s journey is a struggle, especially when it comes to figuring out how to live a good one. Ryan had that down pat at a relatively young age. He is one of the very few people that I regard as a pro in living the humble, intelligent, good natured, and loving life of in the spirit of Jesus’ example (although I heard that Jesus preferred wine over Jamo). I learned a lot while he was here, and I know he’ll continue to guide all of us. And, to be quite honest, I’ll have to work pretty darn hard to live up to all of those teachings. I shall always love the life and the memory of our sublimely clever and 100% kick-ass friend Ryan P. Klesh.

It’s been hard to see you go, brother. God bless you.
-Clancy

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Need team members for The Overnight, aka "The King Serves His Men Well" Team will do a lot of walking on August 12th


Everyone: We've registered to do The Overnight in Chicago on August 12th.

From their website:
"The Out of the Darkness Overnight is a 20-mile journey through the night, from dusk until dawn. It's a unique opportunity to help shed light on suicide, its impact and its prevention. We're bringing together friends, family members and loved ones whose lives have been touched by suicide or depression, and giving them a way to turn their heartbreak into hope for tomorrow."

We could use some team members. If you want to join us, complete the registration form at www.theovernight.org. Click on the "Register Now" button on the top of the website. When you're completing the registration form, indicate that you want to join a team and choose "The King Serves His Men Well" from the drop-down menu.

If you can't join as a team member, please consider making a donation so that we can reach the $1,000 fundraising goal. You also make the donation on their website. Click on the "Support a Participant" button at the top of the site. Be sure to indicate "The King Serves His Men Well" team when making your donation.

Thanks.
Deedee & Todd

Time does not heal

...Time does not heal,
It makes a half-stitched scar
That can be broken and again you feel
Grief as total as in its first hour.

-- Elizabeth Jennings

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Memorial Education Fund

Hi everyone: Ryan's Mom, Anne Spellacy, asked that I post this information.

Memorials can be sent to the:
Ryan P. Klesh Memorial Education Fund (make checks out to this name)

Mail to: c/o Anne Spellacy, 23807 Lake Road, Bay Village, OH 44140

Deedee

GONE

GONE

You’ve been gone for a while now
And all of us are feeling it
No more partying with Ryan
No more relying on Ryan
No more laughter with Ryan
And no more chances
To tell you how much you mean to so many
You can’t just go away quietly
Because so many people loved and needed you
And took you for granted
Thinking you’d always be there
Like a north star in the sky
Now that you’ve gone dark
We all look for you in the familiar places
And think of you
And feel the loss
Like an entire planet
Blinking out of site in a moment
A hole in the world
Way out of proportion
To the reality of one man missing
Which is why it’s so hard to accept and move on
Who you were to so many people
Exceptional in infinite ways
Irreplaceably important
To family, friends, and acquaintances
Maybe you knew that
Though I am skeptical
Had you understood the hold you had on people
And the spark of life you provided
I can’t believe you would have left us
The guy who would give his right arm for any friend
Had you understood your place and value
Across so many universes
You would have stayed here with us
In this imperfect world
Needed and here
Instead of needed and gone
Not because of what we need
But because of what you meant
And how deeply you were loved
That reservoir of feeling for you
Could refill any glass
Staunch any wound
Or make an entire world of things happen
Now here we are, this reservoir
Untapped and stricken
Looking for you everywhere
But finding you
Catastrophically and forever
Gone

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

With you a part of me hath passed away;




Sonnet XLI

I thank all who have loved me in their hearts,
With thanks and love from mine. Deep thanks to all
Who paused a little near the prison-wall
To hear my music in its louder parts
Ere they went onward, each one to the mart's
Or temple's occupation, beyond call.
But thou, who, in my voice's sink and fall
When the sob took it, thy divinest Art's
Own instrument didst drop down at thy foot
To hearken what I said between my tears, . . .
Instruct me how to thank thee ! Oh, to shoot
My soul's full meaning into future years,
That they should lend it utterance, and salute
Love that endures, from Life that disappears!

Elizabeth Barrett Browning


In Memoriam

With you a part of me hath passed away;
For in the peopled forest of my mind
A tree made leafless by this wintry wind
Shall never don again its green array.
Chapel and fireside, country road and bay,
Have something of their friendliness resigned;
Another, if I would, I could not find,
And I am grown much older in a day.
But yet I treasure in my memory
Your gift of charity, and young hearts ease,
And the dear honour of your amity;
For these once mine, my life is rich with these.
And I scarce know which part may greater be,--
What I keep of you, or you rob from me.

George Santayana


Time does not bring relief

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.


Edna St Vincent Millay

Monday, May 01, 2006

For my Son, With Love -- Al Klesh







For my Son, With Love
In tribute to Ryan:

The Measure of a Man

Not - "How did he die? " but "How did he live?"
Not - "What did he gain? " but "What did he give?"
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man, regardless of birth.

Not - "What was his station? " but "Had he a heart?"
And - "How did he play his God-given part?"
Was he ever ready with a word of good cheer?
To bring back a smile, to banish a tear?

Not - "What was his church? " not "What was his creed?"
But - "Had he befriended those really in need?"
Not - "What did the sketch in the newspaper say?"
But - "How many were sorry when he passed away?"