MEET RYAN
(In Terri’s words)
IT Systems Administrator by day, triathlete and bourbon enthusiast by weekend. When Ryan finds a passion he goes all in. So I would describe Ryan’s love for me as very passionate. He loves hard and doesn’t let you forget it. He has a heart of gold. He’s been mine for nearly 21 years and I don’t remember life before him.
He has been my best friend since the first day I met him at just 11 years old. He always, always, always pushes me to be a better person in every way. Throughout our infertility journey he has always given his love and support to me unconditionally. He was the shoulder I could cry on and the person I could bare my all to. Right before our last IVF cycle we sat down and had a long talk that we both had been thinking about adoption for a while and knew this would be our way of bringing a child into the world.
Family means everything to him. He always makes sure I have everything I need before himself and he does the same for all of our family members. Just ask our 3 nieces. We were blessed with our first niece Kenley Grace in October 2017 who gave us our proud nick names RyRy and TT. He was so proud when Kenley was able to talk and give us our names. I think we are all envious of Ryan since he’s the favorite uncle/family member to all of our nieces. I get a little jealous when we FaceTime my twin sister’s daughter Evelyn because she will by pass my face and ask where is RyRy? LOL.
Ryan thank you for being my rock. Thank you for loving me through the hard days. I can’t wait to see you become the dad I know you only hope for in your dreams. Watching you become a dad will be one of my greatest memories yet. I love you more than anything.
MEET TERRI
(In Ryan’s words)
Terri Lynn, as I often refer to her, is a Regional Manager for a large medical group here in Central Florida. When not traveling to one of her several offices, she enjoys spending every moment of her free time with me and our dog Gadget.
Terri and I met at a very young age, in fact we were literally children. We are both athletes and grew up at the local ball fields. It didn’t matter if it was baseball or football season, I would always notice this girl that was so clearly different than the rest. For starters, she was super tan. 11 year-old Ryan was convinced she was Hawaiian. She was the Hawaiian girl, who was clearly more athletic than her peers, and walked with a confidence that quickly made her my crush. I would eventually turn this crush into my girlfriend one morning on the school bus in 6th grade, and thankfully we never looked back.
Terri has so many defining characteristics, but I really want to use this platform to focus on a couple of them. First, this girl is a natural born leader. A 100% “get it done girl”, and I absolutely love this about her. If you have a real-world problem, that you want solved, give it to my wife. I have watched her climb the ranks in her career and accel to points I did not realize were possible in the allotted time. At 32 she has well over 50 employees that report to her and at one point this summer was managing 9 offices across 3 counties. Here I am with an MBA and I’ve yet to manage a single person. Meanwhile, she is a leader for a medical group that has grown significantly over the last 3 years.
Tough. This girl is so incredibly tough. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. The trials and tribulations we have faced together over the last several years of battling infertility can and does, break people. Not Terri. It was always about what the next step was. How do we get to the next “level”? When we lost our first and only pregnancy, she displayed levels of strength that I still cannot not fully understand. One would think I as the husband should be the tough one in this situation and comfort his wife. It was really the opposite, she was the tough one. I love you so much for this.
Generous. Ask anyone in our family. Anyone in our small circle of friends about Terri’s generosity. Terri loves to give. It’s not uncommon for her to come home with a basket full of gifts, fully decorated with themed tissue paper. I’ll ask, “who’s that for?”. “Baby shower for the medical assistant in North Lakeland.” She is literally showering a soon to be mother with everything she will need to be a mom, while struggling with the fact that she is not yet a mother herself. I think this says so much about Terri.
In summary, I truly believe Terri was put on this earth for two reasons. To be the most incredible wife to me and be a loving mother to a child. Her path to becoming a mother may be unconventional, but I can assure you no woman is more prepared than Terri Lynn. I love you sweetheart.