Ryan moves in

A few months ago, Helen was contacted by Irv Holmes, a total stranger who called her after Googling "Best Topeka Realtor."  He was looking for a place for his son to stay for 10 weeks while he was here in Topeka. Ryan, a senior at Northwestern University, needed an internship for his journalism degree and had just secured it at WIBW TV. But, Ryan needed a place to stay. Understanding that apartments are hard to find for that time period, Helen and I considered inviting Ryan to stay with us. However, the demands at work and the Bambino distraction made us decide against it.

Enter total strangers Emily and Dave Liggett. When we were looking for a peaceful place to stay during George's birth, Dave and Emily warmly opened up their hearts, and their home, to us. Their generosity instantly inspired us to open our home to Ryan. He moved in last Saturday. Today was Ryan's first day at work. Here he is at the end of the day:

Ryan said his initial adventure at WIBW was a blast. He traveled with their sports team to Lawrence where the KU Basketball team was having Media Day. Ryan filmed the players as they shot around at Allen Fieldhouse. He then edited the film and was home in time to watch it on the 10 o'clock news. It was very cool.

Now ... The Rest of the Story. Ryan and his family happen to live in Burlingame, California. The Liggetts live in Atherton. Samantha, Jake and George live in Menlo Park. All cities are on the San Francisco peninsula and all are within 25 minutes of each other. When we were there for George's birth, we got to meet Ryan's parents, Irv and Kathy Holmes, when they hosted the Liggetts and us for a wonderful lunch. Oh yes ... the youngest Liggett son is a freshman at Northwestern University this fall. No doubt, we are all meant to be friends.

Congratulations, Ryan on a successful first day at work. It will be a fun and interesting 10 weeks.