[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING WILL RIDENOUR

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 14, 2010

  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, Steve Ridenour and his family are longtime 
friends of mine and my family.
  I have always heard it said that the worst thing that can ever happen 
to you is to outlive one of your children.
  Steve and his family suffered the terrible tragedy of losing their 
son Will in a car accident on June 11, 2007.
  His other son, Tanner, who is 19, prepared the speech reprinted below 
to give to his senior class at Knoxville's West High School.
  This speech expresses Tanner's love for Will and also shows how this 
special young man handled a horrible period for him and his family.
  I would like to call these words by Tanner Ridenour to the attention 
of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

       James Dean once said ``Dream as if you'll live forever, 
     live as if you'll die today''. Maybe you remember him smoking 
     cigarettes on his motorcycle in the movies or maybe you 
     remember James Dean's car accident in 1955 which took his 
     life. My older brother Will passed away June 11, 2007 in a 
     car accident. It was one of the most devastating things that 
     ever happened to my family. But it didn't stop at my family 
     it affected everyone around us. One month later my 
     grandfather passed away from cancer, and the following 
     December my grandmother passed away from cancer. 2007 was one 
     of the darkest years of my life, and I hope no one ever has 
     to go through what I went through. It made me a stronger 
     person and taught me what really is important in life. Aldous 
     Huxley said, ``Experience is not what happens to you. It is 
     what you DO with what happens to you.'' I tried my hardest 
     not to cry and keep my family together because I know that is 
     what Will would have wanted me to do. People come up to me 
     all the time and say how proud they are of me. But I would 
     have never been able to do it without my friends and the 
     people around me. When bad things happen in life you can't 
     just crawl in a hole and die, even when that sounds like the 
     easiest thing to do. James Thurber once said, ``Let us not 
     look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in 
     awareness.'' I believe in this quote, and think that it has a 
     lot to say about life and the values people should have. So 
     remember class of 2010 that these experiences whether good or 
     bad will last a lifetime, so don't look back in anger nor 
     forward in fear.

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