Hello...

Hello, friends.

To say the past 18 days have been

hard is an understatement.

Those of you who do not know me personally,

we lost Ryan's father, Ed Soladay, suddenly on Friday, January 14.

You might remember that Ryan and I had just

spent 7 fantastic days visiting his parents in NY

just after Christmas, and as my brother said in Ed's eulogy,

we will probably remember that as our best vacation ever.

Ed was not just my father-in-law.

He was a man I loved and respected as much as my own father.

He was a man of integrity,

taught his son never to take the easy way out or rely on others

to bail him out of difficult circumstances,

taught him how to be a dedicated father and loving husband,

loved his family more than anything in the world

and was humble despite his esteemed level of professional success.

Ryan and I returned from NY last night,

and after we put the boys to bed, we sat and talked about life after his father.

It still doesn't seem real.

So many plans left undone.

So much life was still left to be lived.

Ryan told me that he was so glad he was able to share his father with me.

I feel so blessed for that time over the past 4 years.

Although he is no longer physically here with our family,

he will always be in our hearts and

his name and legacy will live on in his son, my husband.

I will always be proud to be Ed and Carol Soladay's daughter-in-law,

and Ryan Soladay's wife.

Somehow our little family will get through this time,

despite feeling like it's not possible at the moment,

because that's what Ed would want us to do.

We love and miss you, Ed, every single minute of every single day.