Ryan was an incredible boy. From the time he was little, I always believed that he would make a difference in this world. He was very intelligent and excelled in school. He loved math and science, was at the top of his class, was a Gate student in the elementary years, and then went on to take honors classes. He was an A student and maintained a 4.0 or above during his years in high school. He looked forward to going to college.

Ryan was athletic and loved the thrill of competition. In elementary school he played Little League Baseball, starting with T-ball and then became a top player in the Majors and made the All Star Team. He played Open Junior Tennis tournaments, and went on to play Varsity tennis for Grossmont High School in La Mesa, California. He loved to snow ski, snow board, water ski, knee board, and attempted all sports with great enthusiasm. He loved to play billiards, bowl, and play ping-pong. He was competitive, and competed on a swim team when he was young and enjoyed playing Nintendo and other video games.

Ryan loved using the computer. He was thrilled to find out that he could easily chat Online with his friends from school. He soon learned that he could chat with other kids across the country that were his age and had the same interests as he did. He could send and receive email everyday. He could enter chat rooms and talk about educational and current events. He learned to surf the Internet and quickly learned their was so much information that was so easy to get. It was a perfect place for him to use for his papers in school, or to seek information he was curious about. Ryan used the computer to play games against his friends, to compete in Fantasy Baseball where you choose your teams. He loved to trade baseball cards on Ebay. Ryan was taking a computer graphics class in high school. He was considering a possible career with computers.

Ryan loved his family. His sister, Natalie was his best friend. They did everything together when they were growing up. He looked up to Natalie because she was older, and was always so proud of her. After she went away to college, they remained close through emails and chatting Online. He was a very loving and caring brother to his younger brother, Jeremy. He played games with Jeremy, entertained him, and was very responsible with taking care of him if needed. He enjoyed taking Jeremy out to McDonalds or out for an ice cream. He often picked him up after school and did many other helpful things throughout Jeremy’s younger days. Ryan was also very responsible at home. He always got up to go to school on his own, made his own lunch, and never needed to be reminded to do his homework. He helped at dinner time without being asked and often did the dishes. He kept his room neat and tidy and fed and looked after our pet dog, Heidi. He traveled to many places with the family. He saw many of the National Parks from Yosemite to Mount Rushmore. He skied and snow boarded many of the beautiful ski resorts from Sun Valley to Vail. He cruised the Caribbean, and visited Hawaii. He saw the pyramids in Mexico. He camped, house boated and went river rafting. He saw and experienced many of the beautiful things our world has to offer. I remember him saying on our last trip with him to see the Grand Canyon in August 2000, “this is really beautiful, I enjoy doing this and would like to do more of it.”

Ryan had met and made many good friends throughout his lifetime. He would love to just “hang out” laugh, play games and have fun. Ryan was someone they could rely on if they ever needed help. His high school sweetheart, Kim will never forget his sensitivity and thoughtfulness.

Ryan is deeply missed by many. My grief continues and extends beyond the immediate family. Ryan’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends feel Ryan’s death very deeply. Ryan will never see Jeremy play his clarinet, or take him out for ice cream. Ryan will never be here to talk for long hours with his sister and best friend, Natalie. I will not see him graduate from college, attend his wedding, and be grandmother to his children. But we continue to water our white roses, and drink our Sprite with no ice in his memory. Ryan will be forever missed and will remain in our hearts forever.