Ryan Daniel Plowman

Carol Godin 95w

2024

Another Christmas without you! Miss you Ry!

Daniel Plowman 119w

Happy birthday Ryan

Happy heavenly birthday Ryan. I know the celebration in heaven is amazing. While we celebrate you today, and every day, I miss you every second of every day. I miss your laugh. I miss your jokes. I miss your kind heart. I miss your smile. I still feel your kindness. I still see your beauty. I see it in every sunrise and every orange sunset. I see it in the clear night sky. I saw it in the beautiful mountains and valleys driving to Tennessee. I saw it in the little red bird that visited us daily while we were in our vacation house. I see your beauty in the smile on your friend’s faces. I see so much of you in your brother. The older he gets, the more I see. Drew is incredibly smart and kind, just like you. His laugh… sometimes I think it’s you! I have realized that I will never be the same since God called you home. But I will continue to carry on. I will keep the promise I made to you, to love and care for your mom and brother. I promise that I will NEVER let you be forgotten. Happy birthday Ryan ❤️

Kristy Mottl 155w

🧡4⚽️

Ryan, I cannot believe it has been a year since you have called home. A year of heartbreak for so many people is such an understatement. I don’t have the young Ryan stories living on the wrong side of the Turnpike. What I do have is an amazing friendship with your parent that has allowed me to see and hear all of the great things you accomplished in the 17 years you were on this Earth. Crestwood Soccer Club ended up being so much more than a youth soccer program that brought a bunch of strangers together. With the heartbreak of losing Bill and then you it is just something that tore the club apart yet brought us together all at once. It has been an honor to see the great things that you did on the soccer field and also at the CSC Fields. I was at one of your last soccer games at Shepherd and watched your mom go into Momma Bear mode and it was hilarious to say the least. My heart breaks for your parents and Drew. They miss you so much and are just truly heartbroken. They realize all of the great things you would have accomplished had you had more time. We will all be here for them helping in any way we can but losing you has broke them. My hope is for them is to find a new normal and live everyday the way you would want them to. Keep watching over them and help them to keep on keeping on even when they just don’t want to. We will do our best to watch over them from down here. I am sure you are doing great things up there like you did down here. Rest in Peace 🧡4⚽️

Ashley Bruinius 155w

My sweet angle nephew

One year ago today, I received a phone call, and my body went numb. The panic to rush and be by your side went into slow motion. The thoughts, fear, and panic were unbearable. Walking into the hospital family room to lock eyes with your mother and feel the pieces of hers and your father’s heart shattering. To have my heart feel so heavy and my mind in dismay. Our world changed. Our hopes, dreams, and plans for you came to a complete stop. My sweet angel nephew, you showed us that nothing had stopped.   Our hopes: You made us look around and hope our lives can make such an impact as yours has. Our dreams: you are now in them daily. You push us to dream bigger and learn to live in the moment. Our plans: We were reminded that it is always God's plan.   We do not understand why, but we know you are his child. Ryan, you were one who lived the word of the Lord. A person who can bring hundreds of people together in prayer. When we are sad, you have us saying over and over again, is this what Ryan would want for us? Not a day, sunrise, or sunset goes by without me thinking about you. Sometimes I smile, and I’m so very thankful for all the memories and adventures we were able to have. I am thankful for telling you numerous times how much I love you and am proud of you. You were able to look up at most of your events and see me there cheering you on. Then there are plenty of days. I sit with tears running down my face, knowing how many more days I wish we had with you. A simple picture can break me down instantly. But I will continue to keep my head high and look for you in everything I do. I will continue to show up for your mom, dad, and brother. My girls know through and through that they are here to show up for Drew. To help him when he is in need and also to be there to pick on him (we know that was your favorite activity with Drew.) I have a tattoo on my leg in your honor. Drew took time to draw out this beautiful flower. Our shared birth month flower, Larkspur. It has your heartbeat as the stem, and it also has a #4 on the leaf. Now every step I take, I take it with you! Love, Aunt Ashley

My sweet nephew, I miss you so much...

"Those we love never truly leave us. There are things that death cannot touch." - Jack Thorne. Ryan, there is hardly a day that goes by that something doesn't remind me of you... an orange sunset, a rainbow after the rain, a song on the radio, a butterfly, a random number 4... It still doesn't seem real that you're not here. Seventeen years just isn't long enough. But when I think about why God puts us on this Earth.. it's to do everything you already accomplished in those 17 years. To be kind, to be loving, to put others first, to give more than you receive, to be grateful for what you have, never asking for more.. loving life and making the world a better place. You, Ryan, are an inspiration. YOU are what we are all striving to be.. because after all, we are all trying to get to Heaven. You just beat us there.

Emily Pacheco 156w

rdp

Ryan, As i’ve started at this screen for hours i’ve failed to find the words that could ever be acceptable for the life you shared with everyone. No words felt right, none felt worthy enough. You touched the hearts of so many, mine included, and I could never be more grateful to have had such a great friend. Throughout the years you showed me how to love, how to laugh, but most importantly how to live. You taught me how to live life to it’s fullest. Before you I had lived through life with my head held low, feeling as if I had nothing to go for. You came along and flipped everything, and in doing so you brought out a person in me who I never thought was there. Before you there was a person who wished every day was different, that each night was a never ending trail of sleep. But you brought out a person who longed to live, and who wanted nothing more but to keep living. You have taught me how to be loyal, how to be there for others, how to communicate, and how to grow with others. If there is one thing that I thank God for every day, it’s for letting me experience life with you, in any and every way that I could have and did. No words could ever express how much we all miss you and how much we all love you. Thank you for showing me how to live and for being my true best friend, no one will ever understand it, but that’s okay, I found to like it and be at peace with that. Mr. and Mrs. Plowman, I want to thank you for bringing such an amazing young man into our lives. You shaped him into the young man he was, and without you he wouldn’t have been who he was. It’s rare that you find not only a person but also a family who gives their all into their community and those surrounding them. Your selflessness and your support to everyone has been nothing short of amazing. I truly hope you know that you have changed so many peoples’ lives not only within this past year but also within Ryan’s lifetime. Thank you for everything. We are all here for you through it all.

A great friend to so many….

Ryan was a great example of seeing the best in those that were in his life. He also had an incredible gift for bringing out the best in many and then further strengthening it. * Many of us learned or had reinforced to us during the Memorial events for Ryan in November 2022 that he may have had at least 50 or so friends in his life that all would believe they were among his 5 or so closest friends. I cannot think of anyone I have ever known where I could say something similar. He had an incredible gift of making those around him feel important. * Ryan was a great listener and learner which he leveraged so well and it helped him to develop into a very strong athlete, student, leader, and most of all person. The strong student and great teammate that so many of us knew well in his grade school days became a tremendous leader, teacher, and example -setter for so many of us in his young adult years. * No doubt he would have brought much to Butler University and those he would develop friendships with there as well. We all wish he could be there right now wrapping up his 1st semester as college student and planning out his Holiday time periods back in Crestwood with his friends and family. We are all so sad that we cannot see this happening right now. * As Fr. Joe reminded us at Ryan’s funeral mass at Saint Damian, Ryan no doubt would want those closest to him to keep moving forward the best we can without Ryan being physically with us. * Ryan has done much to leave all us with great memories and with evidence of his impact on his 17+ years with us. (As we still see in our daily lives, his so many friends, classmates, teammates, and immediate & extended family members that Ryan did so much to positively influence with his kind, caring, and thoughtful soul). * If you are reading this from Ryan’s resting spot at Good Shepard, you are standing in a spot where no doubt so many have visited that Ryan so positively impacted their lives in very positive ways. Many of us like Ryan’s parents, brother and other family member’s continue to mourn, struggle, and cope with what happened to Ryan in November 2022. * Let’s all continue to hope and pray that as we continue to grieve that each of us can also continue to be inspired by Ryan’s so well-lived life to earn and maintain a fraction of the life- long good friends that Ryan so deservingly earned with the way he lived his life each and every day.

Ryan

Ryan, it’s hard to believe you were sadly taken away from us a year ago, not a day goes by where we don’t think of you, miss you and wonder what could’ve been! You’ll forever be in our hearts Ryan! 🧡

#4RyansGoals

We walked in your honor today. Your family and friends were all there to support you. You are so missed.. we love you 🧡

dear ryan,

the thought of writing one of these always, was never a thought i wanted to come true, i remember driving drew home from school in late october, when ryan stayed home from school and walking into ryan’s room with tissues on the floor even though the garbage was right there and ryan asked me “how are you doing” ryan being as sick as he was he worried about how i was, that’s what always remind me of ryan and how he was just a. kid that cared for so many people, he was a kid that would stop whatever he was doing just to check in, that’s what made ryan special he always had a smile on his face no matter time of day even if he was hungry cause that kid ate a lot for being as fit as he was. in life you find those people that make you realize what life was about, those type of people that everyone should have in their life and luckily ryan was that person to me, he taught me many things and one main takeaway was value friendships more then anything because quite frankly end of the day those are the people you count on the most and ryan was the person i counted on most through good days and bad days, you always want someone you can tell good news to and they will celebrate with you and the bad news they are there for you. ryan was a great example of a kind hearted human being. now onto me and his relationship, me and ryan clicked from day 1, knowing ryan since pre school our relationship just continued to progress over the years and in high school i realized that ryan was a brother to me, me and ryan sometimes mature but most of the time just 2 teenagers having fun. The greatest gift ryan ever gave me was that he believed in me. The belief every friendship should have in eachother I take a lot of pride standing here today spending every moment i did with ryan because without ryan i do not know where id be in life. Ryan was an incredibly strong, thoughtful and dedicated kid that i had the pleasure to call a friend and brother. when ryan struggled i struggled. Often ryan would put others infront of him and thats what truly defined him. Ryan helped me through the lows and bottoms of life and was always a call away and only a couple blocks away for the times i needed to talk. His laugh and smile was the most contagious out of anyone I have ever known. The things me and him talked about were sometimes weird to some, but to us they were the best talks. Whether it be conversations about sports,life,the gym or me ranting about the cubs or steelers, he would always listen. Everyday I tried to convert him into a steelers fan and a cubs fan but I never had any luck with that, or the arguments about which sport was harder, soccer or baseball. The countless memories i had and countless laughs. The daily facetime calls with mrs plowman yelling from downstairs just to tell me Hi or him solving his rubix cubes right into the phones speaker or him eating for the 10th time that day because like he said it was bulking season .the times he would tell me he would be at my house in 45 minutes and 5 minutes later he would walk in. Ryan saw things in me that i would never notice because he brought the best out of me but not only me but everybody he was close with. He was able to do things that i thought were impossible. He dreamed so big and always did everything with confidence and swagger. Ryan was one of the smartest kids i knew for the times he would tutor me in math or help me write my essays for english. The hangouts we would have the room never went silent; there was always something to talk about.the memories i had with ryan were memories that could fill a lifetime On October 16th 2022 me and ryan were in a little stupid argument and i will never forget what he said in the end ryan said “sometimes we aren't good friends to each other, but that why we are brothers we stick around no matter what.” that defines our relationship no matter what we said to each other we figured at the end of the day we were friends. to wrap this up i figured i’d share this with anyone who sees this to show just how special ryan was as a person. RP4🧡

Linda Bivian 176w

Visted you today!

We miss you Ryan! We love you to infinity and beyond and forever! We love you, Lil we love you big we love you like a little pig Ryan! Gabby misses her piggy back rides!

My Dearest Great Grandson

Was here to visit you today! I talk to everyday and miss you so much and will always love you.

Love you Ryan 🧡 miss you everyday

Dear Ryan, How do we even begin a letter like this.. there are no words.... No words .... that could even begin to describe your goodness.... your kindness.... your impact on every single one of us here and those who have crossed your path. Your wake yesterday.... people waited hours in line just to pay their respects and that is because of the incredible person you are... because of the way you make all of us feel. You listened... you cared... you encouraged.. You did all of this and asked for nothing in return. Ryan, you truly are an angel sent to do God's work. To inspire all of us to be better... to live life like you... selfless... humble... hardworking.. genuine and kind. All of us are so very blessed to have been touched by you... touched by an angel. As a soccer star, you always had your teammates back. As a grandson, you were never too embarrassed for a big hug and an I love you. As a big cousin, you made everything fun. You always played, even if that meant getting bossed around a bit and getting your hair done! You are forever their hero. As a nephew, you always had time for us, you made us feel 'cool' and our times and adventures together will forever be cherished. As a friend, you were so good at talking through challenges and you could say just the right thing to make someone laugh. As a boyfriend, it was the little things that were so special like dancing outside the car if that certain song played. As a brother, your nighttime talks simply just made the day better. And as son, you are the rock.. you are a best friend... and along w Drew.. your mom and dad's pride and joy. Losing you Ryan, has crushed us... it doesn't seem fair... we don't understand... but when you love someone.. .. they don't ever truly go away... they are always with you. Ryan, There's a story about an oak tree... that reminds us of you.Especially after the tree was drawn by your talented brother Drew for your funeral card. A mighty wind blew night and day. It stole the oak tree's leaves away, Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark Until the oak was tired and stark. But still the oak tree held its ground While other trees fell all around. The weary wind gave up and spoke, "How can you still be standing, Oak?" The oak tree said, "I know that you Can break each branch of mine in two, Carry every leaf away, Shake my limbs, and make me sway. But I have roots stretched in the earth, Growing stronger since my birth. You'll never touch them, for you see, They are the deepest part of me. Until today, I wasn't sure Of just how much I could endure. But now I've found, with thanks to you, I'm stronger than I ever knew." Ryan, we know you are standing strong in heaven... you are too good for this earth. You have been called by God. You have fought the good fight... you have finished the race.... You have kept the faith. And now we stay rooted in your strength... we will live by your example.. and that will carry us on... one small step at a time... Until we meet again... when we to... get the call from God... welcoming us home. We Love you Ryan ...may you Rest In Peace ❤️ Uncle Wayne