A Life That Is Loved

    

 I sit here right now writing this blog post on the airplane from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam. I have a connecting flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt, Germany where I will then be picked up and we will drive for almost 3 hours to my new home. Erfurt, Germany. A beautiful city in east Germany that has rivers, beautiful old buildings, a gorgeous cathedral, and lastly is surrounded by miles and miles of sunflowers. The sunflowers were the perfect cherry on top! 

    Today is August 14th, and when I arrive and land in Amsterdam it will be August 15th. The birthday of my beautiful Alexis. She turns 22! And what a life she lived. One that was filled with love, and laughs, adventures, and then more love. What a treat and blessing it was for me to be a part of her beautiful life here on the earth and get to know her soul. 

    These last 3 months have come with so many different and unique moments. Many good, a lot of amazing, and yet still some very difficult. But regardless of the day I have always seen God’s hand in my life, and felt the impact of my cute Lexi. Before she passed we had the chance to talk a few different times about what life would look like going forward. And at the end of every conversation she would always end it with, “I will still be there for you, it will just look a little different” and I love and respect her for that. The courage it must have taken to speak so openly about something so extremely difficult. It was truly miraculous to watch.

She knew better than anyone else the impact she would still be able to have on us every single day. The impact she would be able to have on me every single day.

So with that knowledge I have gone and tried my best to live my life to the fullest every single moment of every wonderful day. Knowing that she has my back and that I have one of God’s greatest Angels helping guide me along. I don't understand all the ins and outs of everything, but I can say without a doubt in my mind that God loves me and that I am amongst the most blessed souls to walk this earth. 

This isn’t how I thought I would be celebrating Lexi’s birthday this year. But here I am. I had the chance to sit by her grave for a little while today before going to the airport. Filled with gratitude for the life I have lived so far, and get to continue to live everyday, I thanked her, and told her “we did it”. She had always hoped for me that I would be able to live out my dream of playing professional basketball, and I know without a doubt in my mind that she was involved in this process to get me here and to rebuild and restart. “I will still be there for you, it will just look a little different”. I feel that more and more everyday. 

I am so excited to go on this adventure and continue to build on the beautiful life I have. God is so good, and I am grateful that I get to keep learning every day. 

The last couple of weeks and months leading up to this moment were nothing short of miraculous either. I learned a lot about myself and who I want to be. I learned a lot about my motivations and my WHY in life. I learned how to love more deeply, and then share that love with people unconditionally.

 I’ve had the pleasure to meet some wonderful people who recognize my why and my potential and want to help me achieve it. How lucKy I am to be so blessed and surroundeD by others who want to see me succeed. 

One of the things that excites me the most about this new chapter in life is the wonderful opportunities I will have to do good in a community that needs light and love. The team that I have signed with has a very strong focus on giving back and serving the community. I have already had the chance to do so by participating in a kids basketball camp and learning to love the kids from not just our city of Erfurt, but also the kids from cities all across Germany. I got to play in games with these kids and run up and down cheering for each other as we fought to represent our awesome city. It’s a memory I will never forget. 

As a kid I remember watching my dad interact with families and children who had struggles. For those who don't know, my dad also played professional basketball in Germany. I remember he hosted a special basketball game for kids with special needs and disabilities. I can still draw from the love and joy that was felt in that Gym that day. The kids were all smiles and joy, as the parents sat in the crowd crying tears of happiness watching their kiddos live out dreams and moments that will live on in their hearts forever. 

I got a small taste of that with the camp and I am so looking forward to the other miraculous moments that will bless my life. I honestly feel like I have been more uplifted and loved than anyone else that has been involved. Our wonderful social worker shared with me as we were eating dinner one night at the camp, that the kids were soooo excited to get to see and meet Ricky Stafford. I smiled and instantly felt overwhelmed with excitement too. Then I had a small moment of doubt where I thought to myself, “I wonder if they think my dad is going to be there and that's why they are excited”. Then I realized that these kids weren’t even born yet when my dad was a player so they wouldn’t know who he was. They were just genuinely excited to get to meet me. 

How healing and uplifting that was for me I still can’t put into words. I am realizing everyday that my whole life has been filled with little moments that have shaped me into who I am today. And these moments are all valuable! Then we get to use those moments when the time is right, and help uplift the lives of others. 

That moment with those kids reminded me that I am once again in a position where I can put my experiences to work and share love with all of God's children. Just as Lexi always did, and just as our Savior Jesus Christ did. I have some pretty amazing examples to show me how it's done and I am eager to continue to learn and grow from their examples. 

Thank you to everyone who has loved and supported Lexi and I through this journey. And thank you to those who have continued to support me personally as I am learning to rebuild and reshape my life. I look forward to continuing to share the amazing and wonderful adventures I am going on everyday and how they are shaping my beautiful world:) Love you all so much! 

Happy Birthday Lex. I am proud of you everyday. I love and miss you. I bet heaven is throwing the best party ever for you :)

Love, 

Ricky ❤️