James Michael Ryan

When I was in Air Force basic training it had been quite a while since I had seen my grandfather, but besides my parents, he was the first person who wrote to me while I was there. He told me I had made a good decision and he was proud of me. A few months later I had a break from my technical training to go home for Christmas, and he flew out to visit while I was there. I was honestly surprised how healthy and alive he still seemed at that time. He still had all the same over the top stories he told when I was younger.
Just a few days before he passed away I found out that my wife is pregnant with his first great grandchild. I'm really sad that I didn't get a chance to see him one more time and tell him, but I'm happy that my last real memories of him are good ones.