Milluer Coulier

Was just telling a friend about a ski trip with a bunch of great friends. We stayed on a boat in Tahoe (turns out to be really cold on boats in Tahoe in January). Ryan was the rampaging skier in a pack of snow boarders the whole time. He was such a charger, not graceful really, but totally charging. Hitting rails, dropping cliffs and launching every jumps. I remember a couple things from the trip. It was the one and only time that I saw Ryan’s unshakable positivity shaken.

I don’t even remember the exact circumstances, I just remember him getting frustrated at something and actually letting it out. In the five years I knew him it was the only time I had ever seen him frustrated or angry. Positivity was his nature and his philosophy. It was good to know that he was human and that his positivity was not a mask. Being happy is great, acting happy when your not is problematic.

On that trip we were all calling each other by our fake season-pass names (thats a whole other story) and Ryan’s was Milluer Coulier. A lot of us kept calling him that for the next couple years.

Thinking of Ryan

I was thinking about Ryan a bit today, trying to channel a little bit of that energy.  Ryan was working on planning an amazing festival when he passed.  It was an inspirational project and though it become a little more of a party to celebrate Ryan’s life, a lot of the original intent and love was present.  I have been working on a really big convergence of young folks in DC called Power Shift for the last 6 months and we are 3 days away with 5,000+ young people coming, amazing speakers, trainers and bands booked and over 300 face to face meetings planned between young people and their elected officials.

Its hugely inspiring and endlessly stressful.  I got into activism in large part because of Ryan’s influence and thinking of his smile, his energy and his laugh help me to stay sane in these crazy days.  I wish he was coming to Power Shift, but I know at least I will be carrying part of him in spirit.

Live, love, learn…

Ryan Heumann was one of my best friends in the world. This site will be a memorial to my friend and a celebration of the love he left behind.