Ryan and Jason are my brothers. They have a different Mom than I do, but they are still my brothers. I don't do things in "halves". Ryan was born in the beginning of 1972, when I was almost seventeen and a junior in high school. Jason was born near the end of 1974, when I was nineteen, in the service, and married.
Ryan was at my wedding. In fact, he and Jerry had this competition going:
That's MY Lisa!!
NO!! That's MY Lisa!!
Of course, Ryan was only about 2 and a half then.
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| This is one of my favorite pictures of Ryan. He put on our Dad's fishing boots. Truth to tell, he couldn't walk too far in them!! <G> | There is a story behind this photo: Ryan kept looking at Jerry and changing position until his placement on the couch was EXACTLY like Jerry's. |
Jason Lee was born while Jerry and I were overseas. He's named after us. Jer's middle name is also Lee, and my nickname all through highschool was "Lee". We both received calls from the Red Cross, informing us of Jason's birth. I was in Thailand at the time, and Jerry was in Germany.
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While I was in Thailand, Dad and Elaine and the boys were great at keeping in touch. They even sent cassette tapes with everyone saying a little something (even baby Jason). Ryan wrote me a couple of letters. I saved the very first one, in the same scrapbook I kept the clippings about Nixon's pardon and resignation and the election of Connecticut's first woman governor.
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By the time Jerry and I returned to the States, it was 1977 and I was pregnant with Heather. The Army sent us to Fort Bliss, Texas, still a long way from Ryan and Jason. By the time we returned to Connecticut, we had both Heather and Nathan and my brothers had done a lot of growing. They weren't babies anymore.
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And they never slowed down one bit!
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In 1988, when Jerry and the kids and I were living in New Mexico, Jason had a terrible accident. While he riding his bike not too far from his home, he got hit by a truck. He was taken to the hospital, where his injuries were assessed. He was 14 years old and a victim of Severe Brain Injury. In New Mexico, I found child care for the kids and prepared to fly back to Connecticut. However, our father convinced me that there was nothing I could do for anyone there, and they would keep us informed. It was a long time before Jason could leave the hospital. In addition to the brain trauma, he had broken a lot of bones. All of us were very worried about him.
Even after we returned to Connecticut, his mom was still very protective of him and we didn't see much of him as the years went by. We saw more of Ryan, though.
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Just before Ryan was transferred to Greenland, Jerry and I warned him about getting lonely and marrying too young. We had seen it happen several times, and in fact, had done the same thing ourselves (we were only 19). Thankfully, he didn't listen to a word we said, and married a fellow airman, Colleen. Theyreturned to the states and decided to remain in the Air Force.
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| Chris (another step-brother), Ryan, Colleen and Dad visiting an orange grove in Florida. |
(Gram was around 93 or 94 yrs old here) |
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(another one of my very favorite pictures) |
Ryan and Colleen are living and working in California now, making it even less likely we'll see them for quite a while. They now have 3 children, two girls and a boy, in that order. We've only met the oldest girl, and that was back when she was about 7 or 8 months old. But it was a grand meeting! We got to spend time with Ryan and the baby and also with Elaine's parents, wonderful people I spent a lot of time with when I was a teenager. And we'll always be greatful we had the chance to do that, since they passed away the following year.
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But we keep in touch, as much as two busy families can. And one of these days, we'll all get together again and share old stories and new ones....
I love you Ryan and Jason!!!
Lisa
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