A woman who lost her husband to cancer weeks after he returned from Iraq and days after their second child was born is sharing their love story with the world.
Heather Means says she started writing a letter to her two young daughters about their father and it turned into a book.
Ryan means joined the Army at age 31 after his lifelong friend Adam White was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
"It just sparked something inside of him that, at 31, he decided to join up," said Heather Means.
He served multiple tours of duty in Iraq as his family back home grew.
"He really did shelter us. I never really felt like he was in any danger, even though he was," said Heather Means.
The elite Green Beret soldier was serving in Iraq in 2009 when he started feeling sick and was brought to a Baghdad hospital.
"They immediately told him it looked like some rare cancer, and maybe 30 days to live if we were lucky," said Heather Means.
Just over a month later, Ryan passed away.
"When Ryan died, I almost felt guilty a little bit guilty because I knew there are people who had husbands die overseas and they didn't have any forewarning, they didn't get to say goodbye," said Heather.
Today, Heather Means has her hands full with her daughters Elizabeth and Sophie.
The youngest she gave birth to while Ryan himself was fighting liver cancer at a New York hospital
She says she sat down to write this book so that the girls would know their father.
"I knew that I would never remember everything that happened nor was I sure I wanted to remember everything that happened, but I knew it was going to be important for my daughters when they started questions when they got older," Heather said.
Heather Means says she hopes the book, made up of her and Ryan's emails to one another as well as Ryan's journals, will help others learn from Ryan's love of life.
"Ryan naturally had an appreciation for life most people -- myself included --weren't born with. He just had it, it was innate inside of him," Heather said.
Profits from the book will go to help the Special Operations Warrior Foundation that provides scholarships for children of fallen special ops soldiers.
Saturday, May 18 2013 10:09 PM EDT2013-05-19 02:09:05 GMT
They say you can't win if you don't play, and thousands of people are. The jackpot for Saturday night's Powerball drawing is an estimated $600 million, giving many a bad case of lottery fever.
They say you can't win if you don't play, and thousands of people are. The jackpot for Saturday night's Powerball drawing is an estimated $600 million, giving many a bad case of lottery fever.
Saturday, May 18 2013 4:53 PM EDT2013-05-18 20:53:02 GMT
Security will be tight and traffic will be messy around the Morehouse College campus on Sunday. President Barack Obama will address graduates at the college's commencement ceremony.
Security will be tight and traffic will be messy around the Morehouse College campus on Sunday. President Barack Obama will address graduates at the college's commencement ceremony.
State officials are reminding drivers the national "Click It or Ticket" campaign is set to begin and could translate to fines for drivers and passengers who aren't wearing seatbelts.
State officials are reminding drivers the national "Click It or Ticket" campaign is set to begin and could translate to fines for drivers and passengers who aren't wearing seatbelts.
Friday, May 17 2013 11:59 PM EDT2013-05-18 03:59:14 GMT
Who wants to a millionaire? How about 600 times over?
Who wants to a millionaire? How about 600 times over? The already gigantic Powerball jackpot for this Saturday night's drawing has risen again, hitting $600 million at noon on Friday—which is the highest in the history of the game.
1551 Briarcliff Rd., NE Atlanta, GA 30306
Main Number: (404) 875-5555 News Tips: (404) 898-0100
Ryan Means (pictured with wife, Heather, and their two daughters) passed away from cancer.
