“Emily… Rest In Peace…”

I Don’t Always Stray Away From The RainCross Programming…

But When I Do… It Means Something…

On Wednesday… Ryker Lost His 1st “Girl Friend”… Emily…

But Most Importantly…

A Mother & Father Lost Their Daughter…

Once Ryker Was Transported To Loma Linda… For A Few Weeks… Ryker & Emily Shared A Room In The NICU…

A Place That We’d Never Thought We’d End Up In With Our 1st Son…

At That Time… COVID…

We’d Have To Drive Back & Forth Through Reche Canyon Because Only 1 Of Us Was Allowed In The Hospital…

Or We’d Have To Sneak Off To The Cafeteria Or Parking Lot & Sit There & Wait…

There Was Another Beautiful Baby That Shared The Room With Ryker…

Emily…

She Had Already Been There Before Ryker Arrived…

It Was Just A Few Days That Ryker Had Been Admitted To The NICU That I Saw Emily’s Mom… Gabi… Setting A Photo Shoot For Her Baby Girl… Those “X” Month Old Pics… I Remember Her Also Talking About A Halloween Photo Shoot… A Thankgiving Photo Shoot… A Christmas Photo Shoot… 

Sounds Cute Right?!?! 

But Then When I Thought About It… It Was Sad To Be Preparing For All These Upcoming Holidays Knowing That You’d Be Stuck In The Hospital…

Danielley & Gabi… Emily’s Mom… Were Close…

Me… Not So Much… For Those That Know Me… I Say What Needs To Be Said & That’s It…

And Know… I Regret It So Much…

Let Me Get This Straight Right Off The Bat…

It’s Not That I Think I’m A Tough Guy… Or Too Cool… And Honestly… I’m Just Shy…

It’s Just That…

And… That’s What The Marine Corps Taught Me…

Was It A Good Or Bad Way To Be Taught To Live Life?!?!

I Don’t Know…

What I Do Know/Remember…

Is What I Went Through/Saw Serving 2 Tours In 4 Combat Zones In Iraq…

I Do Know How To Command A Unit… I Do Know How To Tell A Marine To Suck It Up…

Post Active Marine Corps Duty… I Learned… I Know… How To Coach & Train Athletes…

What I Wasn’t Trained For… Was How To Talk To… To Help… A Grieving Mother…

So Upon Entering The Room Everyday… I Would Simply Smile & Wave… And Just Listen…

Listen To The Mom’s Laughs… Listen To The Story Book Times… Listen To The Dr.s/Nurses Updates… Listen To The Mom’s Cries… 

Listen To Emily’s Cries…

All The While Watching Ryker…

There Was Never A Moment When I Felt Ryker Was “OK”… But I Did Know He Wasn’t “As Bad” As That Little Girl Next To Him…

I Prayed… For The 1st Time In A Long Time… For Ryker… For Danielley… For Our Family… For Emily… For Her Family…

I Was Once Told In The Marine Corps After “Shit Hit The Fan”… It’s Amazing How Close You Can Become With Someone Without Even Having To Speak A Word…

I Understood It Then… But Never Thought I’d Have To Understand That Once I Got Out…

I Guess I Should’ve Known That Being As I’m The Quiet Guy Who Owns A Gym…

But It’s Amazing/Surprising How The Passing Of Emily Has Impacted Me…

Wednesday Night… While Playing With Ryker On Our Living Room Floor… I Glanced Over @ Danielley & Saw Her Reading Something On Her Phone With Tears In Her Eyes & Sniffling…

And I Just Knew…

Emily’s Time Has Come…

I Hugged & Kissed Danielley & Ryker So Tight/So Much…

Prayed For Emily’s Family…

And Thanked God For My Family…

We’ve Had A Very Rough Time Since September 27th, 2020…

But We Made It Through… We’re Making It Through…

Though They Were “RoomMates” For A Short Time…

And Never Spoke To Each Other…

I Know She’s Looking Down On Ryker… 

gf.me/u/zgdwz2 @iamemilystrong

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“Emily.”..

Critical Cardiac Kid…

From My Wife…Danielley…“I had the honor of meeting this incredible Mom, Gabi, and her Daughter, Emily, during our time in the Cardiac ICU and us Moms quickly became friends. Emily was born on July 15th, 2020. She underwent the same operation Ryker did when she was 2 weeks old. Since then she has been in and out of Loma Linda’s CICU. In October, Emily was put on the transplant list but unfortunatelty she suffered from a stroke and was taken off. On January 11th, Emily and her parents went up to Stanford for a second opinion and were told that they believe they can help Emily. However the next day she spiked a fever due to a blood infection and was quickly admitted into Stanford’s CICU. Emily and her parents will be up north for some time but will still need to pay for bills and expenses. If you can, please help her and her beautiful daughter, Emily. 

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Strength…

20 Un-Broken Back Squats @ 55% of your 5 Rep Max Back Squat

MetCon…

As Many Rounds/Reps As Possible in 20 Mins:

7 Thrusters (Rx’d: M-95lbs/F-65lbs…)

15 Pull Ups 

20 Double Unders (MOD: 20 Penguin Taps…)

2 Snatches (Rx’d: M-95lbs/F-65lbs…)… TIME!!!

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3…2…1… GO!!!

Mando

We Did Everything Right… Danielley Did Everything Right… How We Ended Up In The NICU… I Don’t Know… But After A Month From Ryker’s Birthday… The 3 Of Us Walked Out… Well… Ryker Was Carried Out… But During That Month… I Witnessed Some Of The Most HeartBreaking Moments I’ve Ever Seen… And I Was In A Combat Tour In Iraq Twice… The Babies… The Parents… The Screams… The Cries… The Tears… You Guys Know Me… I Ain’t Much Of A Talker… I Leave That Up To Danielley… But I Did Get To Know Gabi & Her Daugther Emily Fairly Well… Their Story Is Heart Breaking… And I Won’t Even Try To Explain It… But If You Can Help… I Thank You…

7.8.2021 WOD & Scores…