Ryan

It is with great sadness that I write this post.  Ryan, our brave soldier, passed away this past weekend. We are heartbroken.  We truly thought he could make it out of this.  He fought a valiant fight though, and we are grateful for that.

We are so proud of Ryan for serving our country, for giving his very life for our freedom.  We strongly feel he should be celebrated for his choices, his sacrifice, his legacy.  He will continue to impact others, as Mike's parents chose to have him be an organ donor.  

There's so much I want to write about this experience and the things we have learned in the last few weeks.  The most important thing is to never ever take one single second for granted with loved ones.  "Next time" may not come for a long long time, so make "this time" count.

Ryan will be brought back to the States on Thursday, with a military service in Delaware.  Then there will be a funeral in Idaho Falls.  

I also wanted to thank my friend Danielle for this heartfelt post about Ryan.  All I can say is we are overwhelmed by the love and support we've been shown the past few weeks.  Thank you!

We love you, Ryan.  We will miss you.  We will always remember you.