Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan gave his late mother a heartfelt tribute with a letter addressed to her in the Players’ Tribune on Friday.
In it, the 29-year-old sheds insight on his difficult upbringing, which left his mom as the sole provider of the Ryan household after his father had been arrested. Ryan was just 12 years old at the time.
“When we were on our own, we were really struggling financially and couldn’t afford much beyond the basics. But we constantly set money aside so that every two weeks we could go out to dinner together. We’d always go to California Pizza Kitchen, usually in the afternoon so we could split the happy hour special: One Caesar salad and one pizza….
And then we’d make up for all the time we were apart because you were working two jobs. For that window of time, we weren’t poor. We weren’t angry or sad. We were a family.”
The winger would eventually be drafted by Anaheim second overall in the 2005 NHL Draft. He was looking forward to being able to repay his mother for all the hard work she put in raising him by herself.
She passed away after a battle with liver cancer on July 22.
“You used to make me laugh when you’d tell me one day I’d put you in a nice house. You were taking care of things for the time being, you said, but the responsibility would be on me eventually. Now that you’re gone, I feel like I got robbed of the chance to take care of you in the way I wanted to. I knew my turn was coming. Even though I realized I could never repay you for what you gave me, I looked forward to providing for you as you got older.”
Ryan was also grateful that his mother was able to meet and hold his daughter. The newest member of the Ryan family was born on June 6.
“Finally, thank you for the gift that was the two days you got to spend with Riley, your first granddaughter, before you passed. Even though she was just six weeks old, I’m so glad that you got to meet her and also got to say goodbye. As she grows up, I’m going to tell her all about you and the love you had in your eyes when you held her for the first and last time.”
The full letter can be found here.
