Ryan- Almost 21 years of awesomeness

My brother's 21st birthday party is tomorrow and I am saying a speech. Eek. I have so many things I want to say but my mind is all tired and befuddled. I was looking at pictures of him and he was just so darn cute.

He was quite sick as a baby - he was in hospital nearly every month with pneumonia. Sometimes he would be admitted for 3-4 weeks at a time. His doctor just kept saying it was asthma and the tests for cystic fibrosis kept coming back negative (thank goodness) but they kept testing because it was the most logical answer.

Eventually, the doctor admitted that he didn't know (after 5 years) and referred him to a paediatric pulmonologist, Dr. Richards. He is absolutely awesome. He finally diagnosed Ryan with an immune defficiency which lead to him getting sick so often that a part of his lung was destroyed. At one point they were even contemplating surgery but then with the help of medicine for the immune problem, Ryan got better and better.

He is now healthier than I am and 100times more active

One good thing from being so ill is that Ryan learnt to fight...sometimes, it drives me mad but he will fight for something or someone he believes in and he is no quitter. And he loves. He and his girlfriend, Julie have been together for nearly 3 years and he treats her like a princess. He also looks out for our little sister (and spends half his time bugging her too!)

Ryan, recently got a scooter which scares the life out of me. I don't like it but he loves being able to get places. A lot of his friends have given him some trouble about having a 'girly' scooter but he just laughed. He has even named it Fernando (because he says its italian).

He has really grown up into such a great man. I can't believe it actually. I remember reading on the couch with him snuggled next to me all afternoon. I used to bath him (yes, at six!) and I was the one who carried him inside when he broke his arm at 2 (a motorbike accident on one of those little plastic bikes). I am just so proud of him...

And he is so good looking (I am his sister so I can brag) :)