I wanted to take this time to tell you first how deeply sadened I was to see his obituary in the paper and second how truely spectacular Ryan is and was during the short period of time I knew him.
About 5 years ago I was working for Rite Aid in Auburn, one night in November I made 2 mistakes... Mistake number 1: I accepted a date from a Rite Aid customer (bad idea)... Mistake number 2: agreeing to go to McDonalds for coffee on that date (yuck). However if it hadn't been for those two mistakes I never would have been given the opportunity to meet Ryan. When we walked in to McDonalds there were a group of kids sitting at a table... I noticed them right away, between their brightly colored hair, piercings and plaid pants, they were hard to miss. I think they kinda sensed how uncomfortable I was with my "Rite Aid" date so as I walked by to throw my coffee away Ryan asked "Hey do you want the raisins from my muffin?" ... what? raisins from his muffin? ok that was weird, but it broke the ice and they all came and sat closer to me and we began to talk... How much we all had in common was pretty impressive... however my "Rite Aid" date didn't seem too impressed. Needless to say I ended up going home with Ryan, Olin, Becky and Nate that night.
Ryan, Olin and I really clicked and became good friends and from that point on for a little over a year or so, we hung out every weekend. We'd go shopping, to concerts, hang out with Liz in Waterville, out to Pizza Hut... whatever we could... we were bored and always looking for fun. One of my favorite memories of Ryan is how every night I'd go to bring him and Olin home, he'd make me sing for him. The funny part is that what he always wanted to hear wasn't what most people would expect. The one song Ryan would always make me sing was "Part of that World" from the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. Sometimes he'd make me sing it twice... :) Then I'd get a big hug, wet kiss on the cheek and an "I love you, Sarah!" before he hopped out of my car.
Before this past June, it had probably been a good two and a half years since I had last seen him. He had grown up so much. No more blond in his hair, no glasses. But that deep voice and quirky personality were ever present. I loved Ryan, as I'm sure many did. How could you meet him and not love him? He lived with passion and empathy, I recall several talks we had about my brother who passed away when I was 16 and how sympathetic he was to me even though he never knew him. I will miss him always...