October 17, 2001    7:19 a.m. MDT
Northeastern Regional Hospital
Las Vegas, New Mexico

Although not due until early November, an impatient addition to the Ryan family began kicking his way out three weeks early on the morning of October 17. He is the son of William and Eileen Ryan and is named after a multitude of William's on his father's side. However, to avoid the Bill, Jr. syndrome, he will tentatively go by Liam - and early name choice of his mother's. His middle name is inspired by his mother's grandfather, Andrezej C(z)upta and a distant ancestor on his father's side, General Andrew Porter. Andrew Porter was a schoolmaster in Philadelphia before becoming an officer in the Marines during the American Revolution. Family folklore has it that he killed a fellow officer in a duel for mocking his profession as a math teacher. Following his court martial, he somehow got himself promoted to general. Whether based in fact or not, this story was too cool not to be carried on as part of Liam's name.

Here he is a year and a half later helping out during an observing run at the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mount Graham in Arizona.   more