We're a Family

When you were born you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in a manner so that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.

I don't know who those words belong to, but there isn't a truer, more profound statement to live by.

He was walking across the main room of the student center of my college during the set up for our new student orientation. I was a sophomore, the new Editor of the campus newspaper, a senator of our student government and a member of our local sorority. I was setting up the booth to recruit new students to join our newspaper. I noticed his sense of pride and ownership in this event. He walked up and down that room and his stride suggested he was untouchable. When the students started shuffling in, it didn't take long for him to come over and introduce himself to me. How I had not met him during my freshman year, I have no idea. Maybe because I was your typical freshman, enjoying her new found freedom with blinders on. 

"What's up," he said.
"Not a lot. Recruiting new people to write for me," I answered back.
"Me too. You want to come join us in SAC?" he said quite confidently as if I had been wasting my time for the past year.
"Umm, no. I can't." Then I listed all the extracurriculars I had already committed to, not to mention my overbearing course load I had signed up for.
"Here. Write your name on this list. Come to our first meeting and just try it out. We're a family. You'll love it." He handed me a a yellow legal pad with a place to write my name, email address and phone number. He wrote in black ink, and it was borderline chicken scratch.

I didn't even really know what the Student Activities Committee did. Like I said, I had blinders on. I had gone to many campus events, but didn't really pay any attention to how they were put on. I wrote my name on that pad of paper and promised I would attend the first meeting. Nothing could have convinced me at that moment that writing my name down on that paper would have changed my life the way that it did. It was one of those crossroads decisions that would pave many roads through the rest of my life.

That man's name is Chris Ryan. Today is his birthday. He would have been 51. He passed away during a soccer game on campus in 2003. He left behind a beautiful, wonderful wife and three boys who have grown to be absolutely, incredible young men who are extensions of my family. He also left behind a legacy and decades worth of students who were a part of his campus family; his SAC family. Never have I met someone who touched so many people. Because of him, we are all a family, hundreds deep and miles wide.

Today, with seeing all the tributes, quotes, and pictures honoring Chris on Facebook, I wondered if he knew just how much he had impacted everyone he encountered. I wondered if he knew about all the people that would miss him when he was gone, even almost 10 years later. My hope is that he looks down on all of us with incredible awe over the passion people still feel when we remember him. I hope he knows how much each and every one of us love him and (I think I can speak for everyone) thank him for a job well done. He wasn't lying when he said "We're a family" and even in death, he has kept our world together. To me, that is beyond amazing.

Happy Birthday, Chris! You deserve to rejoice.