My precious Ryan. My goodness 40! years old. I hope that you are enjoying a heavenly journey with our relatives up there with you and Jesus. I know that you are at peace now my special angel. I love you.

It’s so hard to believe it’s been a year since you left. There isn’t a day that goes by that your aren’t on my mind. I miss our daily texts, FaceTimes, ridiculous memes and GIFs. I miss my best friend and the understanding and comfort that only a sibling can provide. A huge void that can’t be filled by anyone other than a big brother.

People love saying that time heals and makes it easier, but it doesn’t make it easier, you just learn to live with the loss.

I’ve spent the last twelve months trying to rebuild my whole world as I know it. The grief, I’ve learned, is all the unexpressed love I still have to give that no longer has a home. But I think if your grief is big, your heart is big, so I’m OK with that.

It was such a blessing to have you in my life for 36 years. See you on the other side of the stars.

Lastly, and above all Ryan, I hope that you have found peace and that you are no longer suffering.
Mom

My dearest precious son, you decided to leave this earth unannounced and without any warning, You shocked all of us here on earth.
My heart is broken as I thought the past year had proven the happiest for you in many years.
Today is your 38th birthday and I hope and pray that you are celebrating in heaven with all of our family.
I will love you forever and always and forever my special son you will always be.
HAPPY 38 my blessed Ryan!
Keep them all laughing up in heaven as you did all of us down here, you are an incredible person........until we meet again.
Mom

Dearest Family and Friends of Ryan Scharf,

It’s been a few weeks since we lost this bright light and I have been thinking back on all the wonderful memories that I have been blessed with. I met Ryan in the mid-2000’s when he first came out to Southern California. Through mutual acquaintances I was told that there is this “dude from Jersey” who I should meet; described as a funny and VERY sarcastic. My two favorite things in life. We became friends instantly and eventually coworkers. Ryan was always there to listen, remind me of my purpose, make me laugh, and tie it up with a big bear hug. As life began to bridge us in different directions we remained in contact. Before Sal was born I had the honor and privilege to adopt their cats, Jack and Eddie. Ryan drove 7 hours to bring me those two fluffs and to be there for him while saying goodbye will always bring warmth to my heart. I am blessed that they chose me to take care of their cats 9-ish years ago and thankful that I still have a small piece of him with me.
Thank you, Ryan. You changed my life and I will never forget it.
Love you,
Mama Grace

Ry,
Just like on fb I’ve written and rewritten my feelings and memories of you. To be honest I can’t look back and pick one thing that stands out or one memory. I just loved YOU so much. You were my best friend- someone I counted on and was always here for me (I’d like to think and I hope I was for you)! Your funny jokes and impersonations I still hear vividly in my head. The past couple days have hurt because I know a lot of our inside jokes now only live on in my head (that’s ok I’ll look a little crazy laughing to myself hahah)! I still can’t believe this is true or that I’m writing this, but I have to say how truly blessed I am to have known you and call you my friend. You are the first close friend of mine to have passed, and now I know unfortunately, what the empty space feels like in my heart. I hope and pray you are at peace and know you are watching over us all. Until the day we meet again my friend....rest in peace

I am Ryan's Aunt Cindy. Words can not adequately express the love and pride I have for him. He was a wonderful Father and Nephew. I am blessed and honored to say that he and I were very close and communicated on a regular basis. He often referred to me as his second Mom which I took as the ultimate compliment and much joy in because we had a special bond.. I have such fond memories of him from the day he was born and all of the years thereafter. I have many messages, videos of him and Sal, Emails as well as other written correspondence that I cherish and will live in my heart forever. Until we meet again dear Ry, I will love you forever.

I am Ryan’s cousin. Ryan was always so cool to me growing up surrounded by sisters and female cousins. He always made time to play with me whether it was video games or wrestling, often ending in me crying because I was 4 and he was 13...I’ll always remember how much attention he gave me the week after my mom died. As we got older and he moved away I would see him less, but he always reached out to check in on what was happening in my life. I will miss him and hope he’s eating a big meal somewhere with grandma and grandpa

I am Ryan's uncle. It's so hard trying to say something about Ryan so close to his passing, without feeling terrible sadness and anger. I have looked at photographs of Ryan and Lindsey and my children, as well as pictures of Ryan with friends, with Meredith and Steven and with Sal. I have also seen so many friends on facebook express their sadness at losing a friend. And i am left to ask myself how did this happen? I wish that Ryan could have seen how many people cared about him and that that caring would have helped to conquer the demons that plagued him. But sadly and tragically, that will never happen. My initial feeling after the shock of learning about Ryan was that i wanted to hug my children and my grandchildren and to protect them from the horrors of this world. We will really miss you Ryan, and if there is a heaven (who really knows????) i hope you are hanging out with family and friends and telling funny stories and feeling no pain or sadness.You will be missed.

Ryan was my oldest cousin. He grew up just down the road from us, until he was in middle school. We were so lucky to have cousins close in age to us nearby when we were little. We spent so many early holidays together and spent most of the evenings playing in the basement and being loud. He was missed terribly when he moved across the country. I am devastated that he never got to meet my daughter. Some of my last messages with Ryan were talking about parenthood and about Caroline and Sal. He loved Sal so much and was so proud of him. We miss you and will always love you Ryan.

I had the privilege of calling Ryan my brother in law and I am forever grateful to have had in my life. His love for his son & his family was unmeasurable and showed how good his heart was. His sense of humor, especially toward his sister, had me in stitches more than a few times. I will dearly miss him. Ryan, my brother, Rest In Peace

As one of Ryan’s aunts, I had the privilege of knowing him his whole life-from beautiful baby, to Nintendo-loving child, to seemingly quiet, but wickedly smart and funny teenager, to loving husband, to ultra devoted father, and a man who believed in and honored God. One of my happiest memories was Meredith telling me she was pregnant with Ryan. He was curious, interested, with a tender heart and always cared for and made others feel special. He will forever be missed!