Monday, May 10, 1999
Hearts, home open to son of tornado victims
BY MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ryan Cook is so used to this ride. The stop sign he's been running since he was 16. The old girlfriend at the end of the street. Recognizing a killer jam on the radio, the Gin Blossoms' “Hey Jealousy.”
As he steers the minivan through the familiar, shaded Montgomery neighborhood, he doesn't slip all the way into automatic pilot; he can't help but think about where the road is leading him.
“This is so force of habit for me, except at the end of this (street), there won't be a house with Mom and Dad,” the 19-year-old says.
His parents, Jacque and Lee Cook, were killed when the April 9 tornado plowed through their Cornell Road home. Two others died that morning.
Ryan doesn't stop. He passes the lot covered with flattened wooden planks. He says it looks better than the first time he saw the wreckage, when he thought in disbelief:
That wasn't my home.
“It's kind of a bummer. Mother's Day would have been a lot of fun.”
He keeps driving until he pulls the van into the driveway of a place he will now call home.
A place where a little girl includes him in her nightly prayer, asking God to let him get a good night's sleep.
A place where her 10-year-old brother carries around the lacrosse stick Ryan gave him.
A place where he can freely poke fun at the man of the house.
A place where Ryan's room is ready, dinner is cooking and he is part of the family.
A place to live
Brad and Amy Johnson of Blue Ash met Ryan when he began coming to Young Life, a national Christian organization for high school students, when he was a freshman at Sycamore High School.
So when his parents were killed while Ryan was at the University of Dayton, it wasn't hard for them to open their home. After he finished his freshman year Friday, the Johnsons helped him pack up his dorm room.
DONATIONS
|
Donations are still being accepted for the Jacque and Lee Cook Scholarship Fund. Send checks to:
Church of the Saviour United Methodist Church, 8005 Pfeiffer Road, Cincinnati 45242.
Contributors are asked to note in the memo portion of the check that the donation is for the scholarship fund. |
The Johnsons say Ryan is welcome to live with them at least through his college years, which is what he plans to do.
“It wasn't something that we deliberated at all about,” said Mr. Johnson, area director for the Eastern Cincinnati office of Young Life. “It became obvious. This is where his friends are. This is near where his school is.”
Mr. Johnson raves about Ryan — his devotion to Young Life, the fact that he's a straight-A student, his dry sense of humor.
On Sunday, more than 200 people showed their support for Ryan's future. They attended the Jacque and Lee Cook Scholarship Fund Benefit Concert at the Church of the Saviour United Methodist Church in Montgomery to raise money to help Ryan through college.
Scholarship fund
About $4,000 was raised during the offering after the duo-piano team of Shawn Daly and Joe Galyon performed. Ryan, who graduated from Sycamore last spring, will be the first recipient of the scholarship. University administrators hope to make the Cook Memorial Scholarship Fund grow into an endowment to help other students after Ryan graduates.
Until then, there will be a 10-year-old boy waiting for him when he comes home on break. Mr. Johnson recalled how excited Alexander was when Ryan helped coach his Little League football team. He paid extra attention to Alexander, who was small, and gave him more confidence.
After the two polish off ice cream and cake, a black limo full of prom kids pulls into the driveway. Teens are regular visitors at the Johnson home.
The family hurries to the front yard as Ryan greets some of his old friends, telling one boy to straighten his tie.
As her daughters Jaimee, 8, and Lindsey, 6, briefly scamper into the limo, Mrs. Johnson explains why she made room for Ryan in her already busy home.
“When you love somebody and you care about them, you want to be there,” she said as Ryan and Alexander tossed a lacrosse ball with their sticks. “The kids that are really involved in the Young Life program come to your house. They all become dear to you. He's always been special.”
Ryan's faith is helping him through the loss of his parents, Mrs. Johnson said. Still, she can't help but wonder what he's going through.
Ryan juggles phone calls from friends and his only sibling, sister Shannyn Cook, 28, of Ferndale, Mich., on Saturday before getting ready to spend the rest of the evening chaperoning a prom.
Between friends, college, his girlfriend, his surrogate family and Young Life, there is little time. And that is precisely the point, he said.
“God's bigger than sleep,” Ryan said. “God's bigger than tears. Which isn't to say I don't cry. I would like to have Mother's Day with my mom. Right now, my mom's in a better place.”
TORNADO COVERAGE
Fallen female officer honored at last
Police Memorial Week observances
$6M radio system is in works
Ky. hotels compete as occupancy dips
Ohio couple 'kidnapping' Justin, lawyer contends
Hearts, home open to son of tornado victims
Sun hazard: Drivers blinded by the light
Voinovich becomes a voice in Capitol
Westwood boy, 13, shot, critical
All ages come together at Jammin' on Main
GET TO IT
Two Hamilton clinics closing
Gifts inflate Mitch relief effort
Hawkins honored as trustee emeritus of Freedom Center
6 killed as plane crashes in Ohio
LaSalle names new principal
Oxford to start pay-as-you-throw
Principal's trial starts today
Train takes journey into happy times
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