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Hi,
I am sitting here crying and smiling
at all Ryans wonderful memories. Once in a while I type in his name to see his smiling face in the angels of RI page. I
was surprised and delighted when I found this page tonight. I went to school with Ryan from kindergarten on and in the small
town we lived in, until about high school or so you were in classes with people near your last name in the alphabet. My last
name was Panu, so I was close with Ryan all through school. I had seen Ryan most recently at a friends wedding and even though
we had lost touch which so often happens after high school, he was the same old Ryan, and I was so happy to see him, I was
sure Id be seeing him again soon, back in our old town or at a school reunion. Like many people who probably moved out of
town, or knew Ryan at some point, when I heard about the fire, I knew it was not far from my hometown, and I had the feeling
that someone I knew might have been there. My mother called me a night or two later and told me Ryan had presumably been
killed there. I was in such shock and grief. Not Ryan! He, as I dont need to reiterate here was such a special, happy person,
yes, almost always smiling ( hard for many to believe) I called some people from high school that dont live near by, and had
many nights of crying. and hoping mabey, just mabey please God, make it have been a mistake, make him be okay.
Meeting
all the people Ryan moved on to touch and become such good friends with at the funeral was great. It is so obvious he loved
you all and you him. Us high school friends almost felt kind of small knowing we all had moved on so far, but we know we
shared 12 years of growing, developing, first dates, trips to the movies and the mall, school dances, ski club, house parties
concerts(lots of them at Worcester Centrum from Iron Maiden to Ratt) with Ryan. We all will always love him and remember
him.
I congratulate you on the best web page on the net. You have done such agreat job , I really cant even describe how
much it means to see this. It would be nice to set up another celebration of Ryans life with friends old and new, it feels
good to share with people who knew and loved him. Thank you for this page and for bringing Ryan so much happiness. God bless!
Susan(Panu)Woodward
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