The Life of Ryan: A Story About a Kid from Mississippi

By Ryan Winfrey

The Life of Ryan is a book about overcoming obstacles, trusting God, and moving forward. During his time in the military, Ryan was known by his friends as the first one to fight. After Ryan had run-ins with the law, failed relationships, and dealt with bullying issues, God allowed him to find himself and gave him the strength to get through it. This book teaches you that when life knocks you down, and life will at times, get up and dust yourself off and try again. Ryan is a God-fearing and loving father, brother, son, mentor, veteran, and college graduate. The Life of Ryan is a story of triumph that shows that it doesn’t matter what your background is, how old you are, or where you’re from, you still have the ability to change your circumstances. You just have to trust God and have the faith that he can help you fix your situation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982214562

Ryan Winfrey

Ryan Winfrey was born in Columbus, MS. After high school, he joined the United States Navy, where he spent the next twelve years. Four of those years were on active duty, where he served in Desert Storm. His other eight years were spent in the Naval Reserves. While in the Naval Reserves, Ryan attended Mississippi State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. He has certifications in Six Sigma Green Belt, and Lean Sigma. He is also a John Maxwell Certified Speaker, Trainer, and Coach. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and has three children.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Ryan Winfrey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1455-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1457-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1456-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913014

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/19/2018

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

High School

Freshman Year

An Unlikely Mentor

Frog Bottom

Rap Career

Senior Year

US Navy

Navy Boot Camp

The Ship

New Jersey

Gulfport

The Pregnancy

Puerto Rico

Civilian Life

Truck Driver

Jobs

Starkville

Church Life

College Life

Breath of Fresh Air

This book is

dedicated to my parents.

My dad, who started working at the age of 16, so he could help provide for his family. Then went on to work 33 years as a forklift driver, making sure we never went hungry, had lights in the house, and food on our table. Thank you for being a positive example for not just me, but to our family, and my sons, as well. I’ll never forget having rabbit for dinner, on numerous occasions, after you spent time in the woods hunting, or fish for dinner after you had spent the day fishing.

My mom, may you rest in peace, who always supported me when I was right, and told me whenever I was wrong. I will always love and cherish you and what you stood for. You were the ultimate example of taking care of home. You cooked breakfast every morning, had dinner on the table every night. A real prayer warrior in my many times of need. You were my glue, and I’ll strive daily to make you proud.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my family. My mom (RIP), my dad, my three brothers, and two sisters. I would like to say a special THANK YOU to my three children for always believing in, and listening to, Dad.

I would also like to thank my neighborhood, Frog Bottom, for the tough lessons learned, my navy ship, the USS Seattle (decommissioned), Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven (NMCB-7), my good friends at my forklift driving job, my masonic brothers that inspired me to want to go to college and be a better man, Mississippi State University, and the church that changed my life. All of you played an instrumental role in me becoming the person that I am today.

FOREWORD

by Dr. Sheila D. Williams

‘The Life of Ryan’ is a Must Read!

When Ryan asked me to write the foreword for ‘The Life of Ryan’, my immediate response was that I was extremely honored. Later, my response was a bit of hesitance, simply because I wanted to write a foreword that would do this book justice. As an Author myself, I find great pleasure in this compilation of experiences and lifelong lessons shared in ‘The Life of Ryan’. It is through these life experiences, that one would hope to gain knowledge, understanding and direction that not only lends itself to the individual living a more fulfilling and productive life, but also taking those experiences to be a blessing to others; ‘The Life of Ryan’ does just that.

When I met Ryan, I noticed he was a man that was very slow to speak and he never used profanity; which I found to be extremely admirable. Even in the midst of frustration or obvious disappointments, Ryan always finds a way to remain calm. Quite naturally, when he told me he had a past, a history that had drawn him closer to God, I knew there was a story that needed to be told, so I encouraged him to do just that.

The Life of Ryan is not only the story of one man’s journey from a small town, through many challenges and misfortunes, but it is the story of many men, it’s simply put ‘a must read. It provides a realistic look into the life of a man who could have easily been a statistic but chose to change the direction of his life in order to serve God and to be a blessing to those in which he encounters. As an Advocate for Mental Health Awareness and a proponent for Intentional Living, I found this masterpiece to be inspirational and motivational. For all of the little boys and girls and even men and women of any nationality, race or religion, we have all found ourselves stuck at some point in our lives. After reading The Life of Ryan, you will walk away with hope and direction knowing that there is still yet time for you to live your best life and to accomplish your goals. Maya Angelou once said, ‘there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story’. I’m simply elated that Ryan has told his story and I am more than confident you will be too.

Dr. Sheila D. Williams, Ph.D.

International Speaker, Trainer and Coach

Author of ‘My Mother’s Keeper’

HIGH SCHOOL

FRESHMAN YEAR

Being from a two parent home, I realized later in life that I had certain luxuries a lot of my friends didn’t have. Like someone to take me fishing, money to buy school clothes when I out grew mine, someone to wake up and cook a hot breakfast before school every morning, etc. I have an older brother, but he is seven years older than me. So, when I was eleven, my older brother was eighteen. After my brother graduated high school, he moved out to go to college. He got married while he was in college, so he never came back home to live. And although living in a two parent household was awesome, I realized that there was something I did not have growing up. Some of my friends had older brothers that came around sometimes and taught them things. People knew not to mess with them because their big brothers wouldn’t have it. And that’s where I missed my older brother the most. But, he was married and starting a family, so I couldn’t be mad about that. I actually got to go stay with him once, after my first nephew was born. I had a little brother at home, so I was the big brother in the house. But, when I turned eighteen and graduated from high school, I followed a pattern similar to my big brother. The difference was, instead of leaving to go to college, I left home to go into the military. I never returned to live with my parents while my younger brother was growing up.

When I was fourteen, I was a freshman in high school. I had never picked out my own clothes before so I just basically wore whatever my mom bought me from the store. My mom was a homemaker and always knew how to find a good deal. If she saw something she liked, she would buy it for us. My freshman year she saw some tennis shoes on sale that she liked, so she bought them. So, I started my high school years off with some brand new, fresh-off-the-shelf, red and white tennis shoes with stars on the side. We never knew where my mom bought those shoes from, but I thought they looked pretty cool myself. It wasn’t until a few weeks into my high school year, that I realized most of the boys were wearing Nikes, Adidas, and Converse. Until this day, I still don’t know what type of shoes I had on.

One day, I ran into this guy I remembered from middle school, named Fred. Fred began to point at me and laugh, drawing a lot of attention to me in the hall. He was pointing at my shoes and using some profane language, that no teenager should be using. I had taken Karate for one year, a few years earlier, so I felt like I knew enough to protect myself. So, I looked Fred in his face and said, Shut up, you just mad because my shoes are new, and yours aren’t! Fred walked over to me and said, I’ll bust you in your face! Then, pushed me on my forehead. Well, I wasn’t used to anybody doing that, so I really didn’t know what to think. So, I didn’t do, or say, anything. But because I didn’t do anything, or say anything, that was the beginning of the next two years of me being bullied by Fred. I remember sitting in the cafeteria one day, and Fred threw an open ketchup packet, and hit me in the face. All I could do was ask this guy I knew, that was sitting at the next table, if I had ketchup on my face. Fred thought it was funny, and anybody watching knew I was being bullied. But, nobody said, or did, anything to help me. Eventually, I went to see the principal, but my story was a lot different