 |
| August 27, 2017 |
Early Saturday morning my son Ryan took his own life, after having a great day on Friday with as many members of his family as his could be around. I took the above photo on June 22, 2016. It was a great evening. He caught one fish, and that was it. While fishing is my thing, and something he grew out of during adolescents, his real passion was music and reading, and most of all learning.
The stages of death and dying is a process that we're as family and friends starting to experience. I will question, deny, be angry, be distraught, but will always love my first born son who arrived August 18 1996.
Ryan's service will be at John Day Funeral Home, Red Bank, Wednesday 5-9. A memorial mass will be Saturday 1215 at St James Church, followed by a kick-ass send off at Downtown on West Front Street from 1-4
In lieu of flowers a scholarship fund has been established at Rowan University in his name for two students, one that shared his passion for physics, and one for literature. Donations in his name can be made to....
Rowan University Foundation
c/o Ryan Archer Scholarship Fund
Steen Hall
201 Mullica Hill Road
Glassboro, NJ 08028
My buddy Joe asked, as so many of you have, if there was anything he could do. I asked him to take me fishing Sunday morning. When I got to the beach this is what it looked like. It was beautiful but somehow I was drawn to the clouds and the colors. I felt something. I guess I was just reading into and hoping for a sign.
I decided to step back and sit and take in the sunrise and watch the flooding tide roll in. I wished he could have sat with me one last time and I could have shared with him how I felt about him and that he could do this. But, then I felt a peace, for a moment, that he was at peace.
I have-heartedly tossed a fly up and down the beach. Didn't see any bait or birds. The waters still dam near 70. Fall is delayed this year.