Will's Red Coat Quotes

“In my daily prayers, I name about ten people I’d like to send blessings to: five whom I love and another five whom I might not even like.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“It began as many a beginning does, with an end.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“Wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table. Even a tiny fleck of it stops time. —DIANE ACKERMAN”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“Atticus wasn’t perfect, but like all of us, he was perfect at being himself.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope. —THOMAS MERTON”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“One of my heroes is Dr. Jane Goodall. Her life’s work with animals and her compassion for those who cannot speak for themselves and for the good earth itself often nudge me in the right direction. When she speaks, I listen, and in turn I find myself becoming more human. She wrote: “Thousands of people who say they love animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs.” I realized that through my ignorance and my decision not to look at what I was eating more closely, I was part of the problem she addressed.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“I don’t remember much about those years. They are gone. I think I misplaced them on purpose, perhaps to protect that seven-year-old who hurt too much.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“To the right, a tiny red coat with a thick white collar dangles from a hook. It looks a lot like Christmas and is just about the right size for an elf. There is a bit of magic in it. Of this I have no doubt. For that little coat gets me to stop many times each day to consider what matters in life and what it means to be human. That’s why I didn’t box it up and hide it away in the back of some closet. It is meant to be seen, because I don’t ever want life to get so busy and complicated that I forget.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. —JOHN BURROUGHS”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“Nature can show us the way home, the way out of the prison of our own minds. —ECKHART TOLLE”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“none of us are perfect, but be careful of the ones driving a Mack truck full of crazy.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“I was shattered. My soul was split open and rebuilt all at once. I was empty, I was full. I was half dead and completely alive. Both tired and awake, confused and clear. It wasn't just from the day, it was for all of Will, and all of me.
I can think of no greater gift than to help someone regain who they are. To guide them until they find their way again, and remember who they were meant to be. That's what we did with Will. p229”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: A Story of Friendship, Faith, and One Old Dog's Choice to Live Again

“Watching those flowers come for a little dog who couldn't see well, couldn't hear in the least, had lost his appetite, and was so weak he could barely stand, I thought of the pleasure he'd receive with his wondrous nose. As I placed the bouquets around the apartment, I reminded myself that it doesn't matter where you come from, it's how you end up. p224”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: A Story of Friendship, Faith, and One Old Dog's Choice to Live Again

“I've often thought about how people love Atticus, but it was different with Will. Atticus had a presence that was otherworldly, beyond all of us. But something about Will spoke to each and every one of us. He knew heartbreak, hopelessness, disappointment, pain, betrayal, and abandonment- the experiences we recognize in the lines of our own faces when we look in the mirror each day. We an all relate to the emptiness of going without love, understanding, compassion, or empathy. We know what it is like to be lonely or without a friend, whether for a day or a year. Atticus had never known a day without love. He was consistently self-assured, confident, with a knowingness about the world. There was no reason for him to feel any other way. No, most of us have no clue what it's like to live as Atticus lived- for his entire life.
Atticus represents an ideal, a possibly unattainable hope. Will is us, with all our fears, scars and possibilities.”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: A Story of Friendship, Faith, and One Old Dog's Choice to Live Again

“I'll hold onto that scene forever. The four individuals I cared most about were enjoying the harmony of one another's company. The setting, the dance among them, the perfectly sunny weather. It was as good as it gets. All that love and those good hearts, in a place I was happiest. Smiles and laughter and heads nodding and twinkling eyes.
I knew to pay attention to it, because even then I understood it might never happen again. p204”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: A Story of Friendship, Faith, and One Old Dog's Choice to Live Again

“I took it all in. The soft snores, the flicker of flames on each of the lit candles swaying to a draft I couldn't feel, the cinnamon sticks simmering in a pot atop the stove, their aroma adding to the coziness.
How is it possible, I asked myself, that I'd arrive at a place in life where everything felt perfect? A man like me, who had made so many bad choices and mistakes, was waylaid by detours and false hopes, and wasn't always smart enough to get out of the way of the Mack trucks full of crazy?
The snow had turned everything into a wonderland, but I knew it would one day melt. I knew that Will might not make it to another Christmas, and that, yes, Atticus was getting older as well, and would eventually leave me behind. Yet I felt blessed. p168”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: A Story of Friendship, Faith, and One Old Dog's Choice to Live Again

“While not a religious man, I say my prayers more than I ever have, and not just at night. Since I never learned many of the prayers I was supposed to when I was an altar boy, I make up my own as I go. They are more like conversations with God, who plays the role of a friend who is a good listener. In my most common prayer, I list what I'm grateful for, and starting out each day like this reminds me what I have instead of what I don't. Sometimes my gratitude is for grand things like my life or health or friendships. At other times, it can be for something as silly or ordinary as a new toothbrush, or being thankful that I don't use an alarm clock. P6”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again

“One of my heroes is Dr. Jane Goodall. Her life’s work with animals and her compassion for those who cannot speak for themselves and for the good earth itself often nudge me in the right direction. When she speaks, I listen, and in turn I find myself becoming more human. She wrote: “Thousands of people who say they love animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs.” I realized that through my ignorance and my decision not to look at what I was eating more closely, I was part of the problem she addressed. I love animals, and yet I”
― Tom Ryan, Will's Red Coat: The Story of One Old Dog Who Chose to Live Again