Unsure of his future health, writes stories for his young children to read later in life.

METAMORA, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, August 9, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- They say that death comes in three. Three years ago, writer Ryan Crawley's father died near the end of July. Two years ago, his best friend, his dog Flair, passed away, once again, at the end of July. He was not overly superstitious, but this past July, Crawley suspected someone else close to him would die. He just didn’t figure on it being himself.

Crawley went in for a rather simple procedure. He estimates he has probably had close to ten endoscopies in his life for throat issues. No big deal, he thought. However this time, something went wrong. The medical specialists put him under on the table and it wasn’t too long before he stopped breathing. Ten minutes went by as they continuously failed to intubate him through clenched teeth. Miraculously, he finally took a breath on his own after the ten-minute mark. Ten minutes without any oxygen is quite the feat.

"Even while swimming, the most I can hold my breath underwater is probably close to 30 seconds. This was certainly my all-time record," Crawley joked.

After essentially dying, Crawley wondered how he would be remembered if he hadn't of kicked out. More importantly, how his three-year-old daughter Ellie and one-year-old son Jack would have remembered him.

"Would they have just sort of recalled a man that used to watch Scooby Doo with them and pretend to solve mysteries?" wondered Crawley. "I had a throat surgery in another month and I was not certain I would survive it. I wanted to leave Ellie and Jack something to remember me by."

Crawley had left his job as an elementary school teacher to raise his children as his wife would often work long hours as a doctor. He had a Master's Degree in Education with a Reading Specialist certificate. Over the years, he estimates that he has helped more than 1,000 children improve their literacy skills and probably has read more children's books than most people in their lifetime.

"Most times, children just needed more practice reading, and that meant providing them with stories they actually wanted to read," Crawley said. "Students would often gravitate towards stories that involved a mystery, a little bit of paranormal, animals, and characters that reminded them of themselves. I decided to write a children's book perhaps what our family would be like in the future. This is where Ellie and Jack: Third Grade Ghost Hunters came from."

Ellie and Jack: Third Grade Ghost Hunters is a 76-page children’s book that has a word count of about 6,000 words. Longer than most children's books. The plot of the story involves twins Ellie and Jack trying to solve the mystery of whether the abandoned house next door is haunted. The whole family is written into the story, including their dog Smoosh and cat Charlotte.

"I made Ellie and Jack twins in the story as we had to go through IVF to have our children," Crawley said. "Ellie and Jack came from the same group of embryos originally, so in essence, they are fraternal twins but just born a year and a half apart. So in real life, as Ellie was born first and living life, Jack had been frozen somewhere probably in a freezer next to some pizza pockets and ice cream until the doctors came knocking."

Crawley survived the throat operation, but not without severe complications. Still not in the best of health, he is planning on another Ellie and Jack book in the very near future. "I want to provide a good idea of what our family's relationship is like for my kids if I ever have to check out earlier than expected," said Crawley. "I want them to be able to recall our fun, silly, mystery-investigating time spent together even if I am not around."

Ellie and Jack: Third Grade Ghost Hunters is available for purchase on Amazon. In addition, as Crawley enjoys spending time with animals more than most people, he donates 20 percent of the profits of the book to no-kill animal shelters in Illinois.

Ryan Crawley
+1 815-303-9196
ryancrawley54@gmail.com
Ryan Crawley
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