With all the strife and contention of everyday life it is easy to overlook the angels among us until they are gone. Light a candle and remember a boy named Ryan Kerr....even if you did not know him.

And remember the children and the teens who are also the faces of diseases like cancer. And remember the parents, families, and friends these kids like Ryan and little Alex Scott leave behind. Wish for these people peace and the ability to postively move forward. You see, we may shed a tear or get a lump in our throats when we hear about this stuff, but we move on to the next thing on our list of life. For these friends, parents, and families it's a lot different.

Good bye Ryan, we're sorry we didn't know you.

Main Line Life: Ryan Kerr's life is celebrated, remembered
By Chris Williams

Like the thousand candles held aloft during his memorial service, Ryan Kerr emanated brightness.

Whether it was his lively personality, his aptitude for learning and teaching, or his sense of humor, Ryan knew how to light up a room. And his light will shine on, as the charity that he inspired, ConKerr Cancer, will continue to provide bright, cheery pillowcases to seriously ill children throughout North America.

Ryan lived just 17 years, but for all that he endured and for the singular footprint he left, he may as well have lived 77.

The Conestoga High School senior and Wayne resident died at his home Wednesday, Feb. 6, after a battle with bone cancer.

The son of Gavin and Cindy Kerr, Ryan also leaves behind his two older sisters, Ashley and Kaitlin.

.....Despite his hardships, Ryan never lost his high spirits, his signature brightness or his trademark size-16, red Converse sneakers......After his diagnosis, Ryan began spending months at a time at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. To help cheer him up and brighten his hospital room, Ryan’s mother began sewing colorful pillowcases for him.

She then began sewing pillowcases for other children in the cancer ward, who admired her creative designs.

The pillowcase project, christened “ConKerr Cancer: A Case for Smiles,” has grown with the help of volunteers young and old.

Ryan never wanted ConKerr Cancer to be about him, he wanted it to be about helping others, and it has lived up to his wish: ConKerr Cancer has delivered more than 24,000 pillowcases to sick children across the country.

Cindy Kerr’s efforts were recognized by Martha Stewart after she won the Martha Stewart Living “Dreamers into Doers” award in October. Since the family’s appearance on Stewart’s show (which marked the first time Stewart was reportedly moved to tears), 34 new chapters of ConKerr Cancer have been created in the U.S. and Canada.

For more information see http://conkerrcancer.org/ and don't forget http://www.alexslemonade.org/