Leave Your Light On

On this installment of Hard Beautiful Journey, I have the privilege of speaking with the authors of the book, Leave Your Light On, Shelley Buck, and Kathy Curtis. Leave Your Light On is about Shelly’s son Ryder Buck and his relentless thirst for life and love.

At 22 years old, Ryder was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer that had traveled up his lungs. After a total of seven rounds of chemo Ryder valiantly defeated cancer. From the beginning, Ryder did not allow his diagnosis to consume him; he continued to surf, hike, and travel.

It was during his trip to Bali where he returned a transformed man. A sense of serenity and spirituality surrounded him, and being a musician at heart, this experience fed into his writing.

“Through finding his own light, his own spirit and purpose, he loved large and shared that love.”

Shelley Buck

Throughout all this, Shelly was writing in her online journal. Mainly to keep relatives and friends informed of Ryder’s status, but also to document Ryders’s antics. When his passing came, Shelly continued to write as a form of therapy and catharsis. It was from these journal writings, and a sign sent to her by Ryder, where Shelly was guided into writing Leave Your Light On. In this book, Shelly and Kathy welcome us with open arms into Ryder’s life to hopefully catch a glimpse of the beam of light that was his life.

” I didn’t know how he was changing until he got off the plane and there was this serenity.”

Episode Timestamps:

[01:38] Leave Your Light On

[03:08] Introduction to Shelly and Kathy

[08:17] Ryder’s first song

[09:22] Ryder’s trip to Bali           

[11:11] Beating cancer

[12:56] Ryder’s love for music

[15:05] Learning from Ryder’s story

[18:01] Advice for parents to cope

[21:32] Ryders passing

[23:00] Connection between grief and light

[28:34] Kathy’s program

[33:23] Dump truck and The Oscars

[36:07] Ryder Nattura

[38:46] Ryders final note from Bali

[40:51] Learn more about Ryder and his legacy

[42:34] Expressing gratitude

[44:41] Outro

Buy the Book Here:

https://www.ryderbuckmusic.com/product-page/leave-your-light-on-cd

https://www.amazon.com/Leave-Your-Light-Musical-Illuminating/dp/1734484403

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Thanks for listening,

Tiff