Ryan is Home!

Ryan Morris with bio sisters Krystal, right, and Jamie, at the birthday party for his 1-year-old nephew. (Courtesy of Monica Mukai)

Monica Mukai, left, Ryan Morris’ aunt, has been appointed his legal guardian, taking him home 29 years after his birth. The two on a recent trip to Disneyland. (Courtesy Monica Mukai)

The song was a staple before California permanently cleaved Ryan Morris from his biological family, in a manner unlikely to be tolerated today. Before the court slapped them with a gag order as they battled foster parent Michelle Morris-Kerin for custody. Before the court allowed Morris-Kerin to adopt him over the family’s vehement objections. Before Morris-Kerin cut all ties with his blood relatives — even with Morris’ identical twin brother.

Morris-Kerin didn’t lose her foster care license until a disabled child died an agonizing death on her watch. She didn’t lose her ability to visit and care for her profoundly disabled adult children until prosecutors accused her of willful cruelty, as well as lewd/lascivious conduct with dependent adults (“with the intent of arousing, appealing to, and gratifying the lust, passions, and sexual desires” of herself, her husband and the dependent people, according to the indictment of Morris-Kerin and her husband).

Ryan Morris was one of those abused in the Morris-Kerin home, according to court documents. His bio family racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills over the decades trying to “free” him, and it had finally come to this. As they sang in the car, Nonna Mukai changed the lyrics to “We’re going to San Juan, We’re going to San Juan, yes we are, we’re going to San Juan.” There was a beat, and when she added the errant “Capistrano,” they laughed until they cried.

Identical twins Ryan, left, and Ronald, right, play on the beach in San Clemente on Dec. 19, 2000. They were 6. (Staff Photo / Eugene Garcia )

Ryan had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, asthma and myriad other maladies, according to court records. His motor skills and speech were impaired. He was prone to seizures. He required care 24/7, much more specialized care than Nonna Mukai could provide, officials told her. She retorted that she’d happily learn whatever skills were necessary — but Ryan was placed in one specialized foster home after another for the first few years of his life. This care that cost the state some $5,000 per month, and at the time, it would only pay foster homes and institutional programs, not families.

The family visited Ryan weekly and often took him home to San Clemente for overnight visits. Twin Ronald’s bedroom was yellow, optimistically furnished with two beds – one for each boy. The bond between brothers was obvious, their older sister later told the court: “Sometimes they would just go on and on, mimicking each other and laughing, that they forgot anyone else was even there.”

As the twins approached their fourth birthday, Ryan was transferred to the Morris-Kerin foster home in the Tustin foothills, which catered to severely disabled children. Morris-Kerin had gained a small measure of fame for “If I Should Die Before I Wake,” a disturbing novel of father-daughter incest that she said was based on a friend’s experience.

Nonna Mukai was not impressed. The children in Morris-Kerin’s home could not walk or speak. She worried Ryan would become isolated and lonely. Thus the battle began.

Morris-Kerin was once a Los Angeles County adoption social worker. She made reports that cast doubt on the bio family’s ability to care for Ryan or accept his disabilities. He’d come back from visits with scrapes and bruises, Morris-Kerin said  — which is what happens when children play, Nonna Mukai tried to tell the court.

Ronald Moore, left, and identical twin Ryan Morris embrace after seeing each for the first time in 13 years in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Monica Mukai)

Surprise marriage

When Ryan Morris finally reached the age of majority in 2015 — when, despite his disabilities, he was supposed to be able to make his own decisions, rather than have Morris-Kerin make decisions for him — the bio family pushed to be part of his life with renewed resolve. They were stunned to learn how fearful he had become — he was told again and again that his bio family was evil — and stunned to learn that he was married.

To a man of regular intelligence. Nearly twice his age. Despite having the intellectual capacity of a kindergartener.

Morris-Kerin promised him a cell phone if he got married, Ryan Morris later told a psychologist.

At the ceremony, he was confused and concerned, mistaking his wedding for a baptism.

Ryan Morris’ husband, truck driver Sean Spicer, welcomed the family warmly at first. He had his own issues with Morris-Kerin.

Ryan Morris, right, and husband Sean Spicer, at their wedding in 2014. Morris mistook the ceremony for a baptism. (Photo courtesy probate court file)

After Morris-Kerin’s arrest, she was forbidden to see Ryan and her other adopted children (trial for her and her husband is slated for Sept. 25). Spicer dropped his objections, saying that Ryan Morris was happy when he was with his family. And finally, on May 5, after nearly three decades of state-imposed separation, the court appointed Monica Mukai as Ryan Morris’ legal conservator. Attorney Charles S. Krolikowski of Newmeyer & Dillion LLP shepherded them through, and is now a family hero.

Ryan Morris sleeping in his new room at his aunt Monica Mukai’s house (Courtesy of Monica Mukai)

“I tell him he’s safe and protected, no one is taking him to ETS or to jail, that’s all in the past,” said Mukai. “I have to constantly reassure him.”

She says that he gets to decide if he wants to have other friends. “It’s very important that you know it’s your choice,” she told him.

“Is that normal?” he asked.

The family has big plans to help Morris make the most of his life. He’ll be seeing new doctors. His medication regimen will be re-evaluated. He’ll get trauma therapy and equine therapy and speech therapy, instruction on reading and writing, technology and music. He’ll get training on basic self-care such as how to properly wash his hair and body and effectively brush his teeth — his gums bleed profusely and he had five teeth removed just days before Mukai was appointed conservator.

He has bruises and bloody toes. He needs healing.

Nonna Mukai is a devout believer in God. She has spent decades wondering why Ryan was ripped away from the family that loved him and wanted him, why he had to endure such suffering.

The reason, she has concluded, is that Ryan and Diane Ramirez — the girl who died after Morris-Kerin failed to get medical help, despite explicit instructions to do so — were used by God to save the other children and adults in the Morris-Kerin home. There has to be a reason. There just has to be.

After a week in his new home, Morris is starting to make plans. He’s going to play baseball. He wants to learn guitar, and be a pastor, and learn to drive. “How come Ronald can drive and I can’t?” he asks.

When Mukai tucks him into bed at night, she plays the same lullabies she once played for his sisters. “I have so much happy,” Morris said the first night. “I love you guys.”