Ryan for the most part grew up in Lake                Stevens,Washington. His first sport was baseball. I coached him every season until his one love took over, soccer. But in the times off the field, you would find Ryan doing everything you could imagine doing on a board; skateboarding, snowboarding, and wakeboarding, skim boarding and surfing. Ryan had the conviction to try anything at the same time, he was hardest on himself when he in his mind failed or fell down. But once he figured it out, he was never happier and his smile light up every one watching.

Like many parents, we did not know the first time Ryan used drugs. We didn’t know until after Ryan was gone when we read his journal from rehab about some older kids offering him and a friend to smoke marijuana if they fetched a ball in the woods that bounced out of the basketball court in our cul-de-sac. That was his first time. He was in second grade, how can you offer a second grader drugs? What is the matter with those kids? I have a lot of resentment towards them and wish they had used better judgment. The first time Ryan tried alcohol, we knew because he came home and told us. Ryan was a very trustworthy child. He was always doing the responsible things that encouraged us he was going down the right path.