One day last June while I was staying in the hospital with Ramón, I decided to watch the video of his swearing in ceremony. Since he was minimally conscious, I thought it would be good for him to hear familiar voices, including his own, on what he deemed one of the best days of his life. As I hit play, a nurse practitioner entered the room. Though I was tempted to pause and quickly minimize the video, I didn’t; she asked what I was watching. When I told her, she was curious to see, so I skipped to the ending where Ramón got up to speak. With teary eyes, she told me she’d never heard his voice before.
I often think about Ramón’s thank you to everyone who opened doors for him. He claimed that all he had to do was walk through the open doors, but he did more than leisurely strut through them. Ramón nudged them open further — even banged them down if necessary — then caught everyone’s attention with his calm command and charismatic smile.
Ramón opened many doors for me too, literally and figuratively. He insisted on opening the car door for me every time we went anywhere: the grocery store, chemotherapy, and even our final trip to the hospital. More than that though, Ramón opened the door to my heart, my growth, and the path toward my best self.
Ramón went to law school because of his desire to help people, and there is nothing he would want more than to continue serving others. I look forward to the many more doors that will open because of him. https://www.gofundme.com/f/ramon-alvarado-scholarship-fund-for-uw-leo-program