February 19, 2013

Desert Sky, Apache Junction, AZ

33 years ago today I welcomed my baby boy into this world.  Ryan Edmund Fais was so anxious to enter the world that he came into it six weeks early.

 

   His older sister, Renee, had also been born prematurely the previous year.  She had been transferred to a nearby hospital that had a neo-natal unit.  We had been told that we were lucky to have a girl because girls are fighters and have a better survival rate than boys.

So here I was a year later having my second baby transferred to another hospital but this time the baby is a boy.  I was terrified.  But just like his older sister, Ryan proved to be a fighter too.  He had some of the complications associated with being a preemie including premature lungs and jaundice.  But we were lucky because his condition could have been much worse.

As a consequence of his premature birth Ryan did have asthma.  But he never let the asthma stop him from participating in such sports as soccer, baseball, gymnastics and lacrosse.

 Ryan was the most adorable baby.  I was very busy with his older sister who was at a stage where she was into everything and needed constant attention.  Ryan was content to play in his playpen and was very easily amused. 

 

 

 

 

  Ryan with his sister, Renee

 

 He was a very kind and thoughtful young boy.  

 

When he entered High School, where I was worked as a teaching assistant, he wasn’t embarrassed by my presence.  A typical teenage boy would shy away from showing affection to his mother but not Ryan who didn’t have a problem giving me a hug when our paths crossed in the hallway.

 

 

 

I have so many wonderful memories of Ryan’s childhood.  One such memory was of Valentine’s Day when Ryan was perhaps 13 years old.  He rode his bike into town and bought a girl he liked roses and then rode to her house to deliver them.   Another memory is of Ryan at the last moment taking a girl to her prom because she didn’t have a date. 

 

 

 

 

In addition to sports, Ryan was also active in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and ROTC in High School.  His involvement with ROTC did not come as a surprise to me because his interest in the military began when he was a small boy playing with GI Joe.  When it came to choosing a career, Ryan, in keeping with a long line of family members like his dad and great grandfather, chose to become a policeman.  

 

 

 

 

 He also answered a call to our country just prior to 9/11 by enlisting in the Army Reserves and has served two tours in Iraq and is currently deployed in Afghanistan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love you Ryan and am so very proud to be your mother.

 Happy Birthday