Ryan Queen

These photos kind of summed up my Saturday, May 9th, 2026. Truthfully, I needed this water day pretty bad. Between everything life’s been throwing lately, it was a good reminder to get out there, laugh a little, crash a lot, and actually feel alive again. For sure a couple hard falls, but some sun, cooler water, and a boat wave / surfing it is apparently still good for my soul. 🌊 Thanks @jhellergram for getting me to go! 📸: @jhellergram & @tajsnaps

April 2026. My kids. Precisely a year ago, cancer took my hair. All of it. …and tried to take a lot more with it. There were days I didn’t recognize the guy in the mirror. I was thin, I was bald, on heavy chemo — Days that felt heavy in a way you can’t really explain to anyone. For me, everything had been stripped down to the basics… where I was just trying to get through it all. I had a few friends and strong family that was bold enough to stand with me. For those people I will always be so grateful! They know who they are. I’m still here. And these last couple weeks… this is what “here” looks like for me. Time with my kids. Laughing, running around, just being a Dad. The simple stuff that somehow means totally everything now. I don’t know what’s ahead. Still walking through where I go from here. But I’m here. And that’s enough for today. ♥️

Happy Easter from my little family to yours. 🩷♥️💙 Hold them tight… their perfect little hands, their crazy loud laughs, the late night dance parties, and all the chaos in between. That’s the good stuff that passes me by if I don’t stop to enjoy! Love ya’ll… as my South Carolina family would say— missing some time with extended family this holiday. 😊🐰🐣

For those that don’t know… I spent 18+ years repping Burton Snowboards in one way or another. Fast forward to moving day and I uncover this time capsule… a Burton tent / snowboard travel bag I’ve had for 20+ years. Still sealed. Never opened. Just sitting there like it was waiting for something. Probably should’ve kept it tucked away… would’ve been some nice vintage snowboard gold by now. But my daughter wanted a tent and it immediately popped into my head… I dug through the garage and that was that. Cracked it open for the first time ever! Now it’s not a collector’s piece (oops) …it’s her fort. And honestly… that feels like the better story. Crazy how things come full circle sometimes. Loved those Burton days!

Cold plunge: 60°. Five Minutes. Not that cold. Forever in pursuit of wellness. Truth is… last night was again a rough one. I woke up feeling like absolute S?$&. But I still got my ass to the gym. Still got in the cold water. …And I’m still moving forward. Because the only option we all have is to keep chasing the best versions of ourselves. Some days I convince myself I’m strong. Resilient. Getting better. …and the truth is that I very much am! ❤️‍🩹 Feel great on many days. …but then a stretch of days hits and my body (and soul / mind) reminds me what it’s actually been through & how vulnerable I remain. I guess you don’t get to just walk through that and just bounce back like nothing happened. 😂 It leaves a mark whether I want to admit it or not. Life is so different now in many ways, but I am embracing it. I live with so much re-found purpose and for me that is great. The past is in the past. One day at a time. We power through it all! 💪🏽

Quick photo this morning… but it’s not about the photo. My brother kicks off his van life trek back east to South Carolina today after a few months out here helping me get life dialed in. Having him around has been so solid! 🪨 He’s the kind of uncle every kid deserves and such a supportive brother. So good with Denver and Stone. They’re going to miss him just as much as I will. This trip I also discovered he’s a legit electrician. The kind who can troubleshoot what I’ve been confidently pretending to understand. We even somehow added 20 recessed lights to the garage from scratch. Total overkill. Stadium lighting for my unorganized tools. Who does that? Adam’s helped me clean up, rework, install fixtures, mirrors, vanities and just about everything else in this new fixer upper. Pretty sure we’re wired for the home flip life. Thanks for always keeping my spirits high and my mind / body strong as we battle through the adversity …& thanks for helping me create this beautiful space for my kids to be outside all he time — at that we have tentatively named “The Stone Ranch”. (Denver already has a clothing company. 😂) Travel safe back to South Carolina, @adam.m.queen . Grateful for you & will miss all the fireplace chats! 🔥

Daddy doing his best to build memories that last at the new ranch. Quick backyard run to “mini Home Depot” (aka the shed) to grab more painter’s tape for our cardboard house masterpieces. 🚜🎨 🎥: @adam.m.queen

This year starts a new chapter for me. 2026 is the year of redemption. The end of 2023, all of 2024, and the greater part of 2025 tested me in ways I never imagined. Cancer. Eleven rounds of chemo. Three major surgeries. I lost my marriage, but I kept my integrity. I crossed the country and spent nine months away from my kids so my family could help carry me through the hardest fight of my life. Their love kept me standing. I am now back in California and just closed on a home in Murrieta. A place to rebuild. A place to breathe. A place to keep going. I have lost a lot, including financially, and had to let go of a business. But clarity replaced chaos. The present matters. Showing up matters. Being present for my children matters most. My kids are everything. Coming close to losing your life rewires your perspective. I went from over 210 lbs to 163 lbs, and now I am stronger and back near 200. I’m heading into 2026 waiting on updated cancer results, grounded and hopeful. Whatever shows up on those scans, the fight does not stop. I will win for my kids. 2026 is my year. I will love again. I will grow. I will build. I am grateful for those who stayed when I was hurting and hard to be around. Social media can polish anything. Real life cannot. Truth lives in how you show up every day. Your actions show people how much they matter! I’m rooting for all of us to win this year. 🏆 If you need support this year I am asking you to reach out to me!!

Jeff Potto aka @pottomon sent me this image the other day on FB. Stoked someone still has an image of me from my snowboarding days!! That’s some proper style in my book! (Between the binding and inside of knee tweak — Haha). Potto is such a phenomenal photographer so this is special! What a better day to post it than one day after my Birthday and on a lil’ throwback Thursday kick. Thanks to everyone that reached out to wish me well yesterday. I guess this is back when life felt kind of wide open with little fear, no noise, just some hang time surrounded by buddies! Didn’t know then how much I’d miss that feeling. These days the mountains I’m climbing look a little different, 🤣 …but I’m still finding moments that feel like flying, even if they come in smaller ways now. I’m just happy to get up and pump down the line surfing!!🏄🏽‍♂️ Anyway. I used to snowboard. A lot!

The last couple weeks… I’m still very much healing, and slowly, finally learning how to live again. No one can prepare you for what happens after a life-altering illness. You don’t just fight the disease. You have to re-learn how to live, all while understanding the realities of long-term recurrence and statistics. Life doesn’t hand out a “how to” for moments like this. One day I was running three businesses, building a future for my family. The next, I was selling everything off, losing a major support network, fighting cancer, learning how to care for both a baby and a toddler on my own, and facing a reality I never saw coming. Through it all, I’ve been learning to hold on tight, to adapt, and to find peace in the storm and confusion. I’m not posting for sympathy, but because I’m grateful to still be here. 🙏 I’ve learned to smile through the pain, stay calm in the chaos, and find light when life tries to break me. My current perspective: Last year at this exact time, I was at UC San Diego Morris Cancer Institute in the ICU after having over 75% of my liver removed. Now: some days I crush it. Other days I’m just barely surviving. But every single day, I choose to show up. For Denver. For Stone. For myself. My kids deserve to see what strength looks like, what love looks like, even when life doesn’t go as planned. ❤️. They’ve seen the rawest tears of emotion in me, and that’s okay. Somewhere in all this, I’m finding gratitude for a new perspective, for the fight I was given when others may never get the chance to fight their diseases, and for the lessons in who stays by your side and who chooses to walk away. Most of all, I’m thankful for the love that never left my side. My circle is smaller now, but it’s real. 💪 I’m still standing. Still learning the new me. And honestly, still figuring it all out one day at a time. ❤️‍🔥 These photos are a reminder of who I’m responsible for, and of finding joy in my babies. My life may look way different now, but I’m still here. I’m fighting, loving, and growing every day. 🤜 🤛

Denver’s 7th Birthday is today! 🌸🎂 We celebrated with two dozen roses for my special girl, presents and of course some cake and birthday songs. One present for each amazing year of her life. Anyway, life looks a little different this year. We’re figuring it out and celebrating out of the RV this lap around, but it’s no less special AT ALL. Denver continues to blow me away with her sheer grit, soft heart, and endless curiosity. She’s got this quiet strength to her that is always moving forward, always creating, always figuring things out in her own way. This year’s theme was Legos, which makes total sense. Hah! She loves to build, draw, and create. So, 7 sets of them it is, from easy to hard. I feel like the tougher the project, the more she dives in (or maybe that’s just me pushing her). I’m beyond thankful to still be here! To get to watch Denver grow, to celebrate her, and to keep seeing the world through her eyes. It is fun! ❤️

My kiddos are so happy to have their daddy back! 👏🏽 It’s been tough on them… and maybe even tougher on me. There were days I didn’t know if I’d ever get moments like this again. It’s crazy how life altering events will put perspective on all of one’s life relationships. I am a much deeper person than I was prior and it is a good thing! Still love to have fun, but don’t take it for granted as my whole life shifted in a very quick time. Now we’re here …laughing, playing, and just feeling the sand between our feet (and everywhere as you can see by Stone’s photos). Just glad my kids love the sun, the ocean, the waves, and the water. Let’s be real, I still have my struggles, I am not kidding anyone, but I do feel so thankful for another chance to live… to hold these kids, to guide them, to just be their stability under so much unreasonable change that no kids should deal with. These kids, Denver & Stone, are my whole world, and I look forward to guiding them for years and years to come! 🙏🏽