Life has changed

On September 18, 2023, I left North Carolina to return to Florida. I was planning to teach a Katazome workshop at the Morakami Japanese Museum in Delray Beach on Sept 23 and 24 and then leave for Japan on October 4th.

I came home and started packing for Japan. In the studio, I started packing my supplies for the workshop.

What happened on September 21st has shaken my life and I will never be the same!

In the early morning hours of September 21st, my son Ryan was in an automobile accident while traveling back to Florida from North Georgia where he had been working on a family cabin for several weeks. His right rear tire blew and his SUV rolled several times. He was transported to Lawnwood Regional Hospital in Ft. Pierce by helicopter.

When I woke up that morning and Ryan was not home, I knew something had happened. I had spoken to him at 9:30 pm on the 20th and he was enroute. I thought maybe he had stopped to sleep for a while. I went to the studio to finish packing the workshop supplies. I kept calling Ryan’s phone and it went immediately to voice mail. This was unusual, his phone was attached to him! Finally, I called the Florida Hwy Patrol and I was told he had been in an accident and had been transported to Lawnwood.

Immediately, I stopped what I was doing and drove to Lawnwood. I was told he was in the 3rd floor TICU.

I was not prepared at all for what was coming. Ryan had suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and was on life support. The doctors were not optimistic.

At this point, all I could do was pray for a miracle! Seeing my boy like this was killing me.

I stayed at the hospital at Ryan’s side and waited every day for some good news hoping to see some response. The doctors told me that they had induced the coma to allow the brain swelling to go down. On the 3rd day, they started reducing the sedation and we prayed that Ryan would open his eyes.