Gastonia Times

Guilford County recently issued the following announcement.

Ask Ryan Garber about his future, and he’ll talk about his grandfathers.

His paternal grandfather, Max Garber, worked as a dentist in the Navy during World War II. He died when Ryan was 3, but he remembers the man he called Granddaddy from the stories his dad shares.

But Ryan really knows his maternal grandfather, Raymond Taylor. He called him Granddaddy Taylor.

Taylor served in Army intelligence, and he graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, Class of 1959. He became a lawyer and worked as the superintendent of documents at the Library of Congress. After he retired in Raleigh, he took Ryan to various museums all the time.

That includes the Museum of Natural Science and the NC Museum of Natural History.

Taylor took Ryan at least two times a year to those museums. When he did, Taylor would read every plaque to his grandson and talk about each one. Ryan listened.

 Those conversations got Ryan interested in history and the natural world. Those conversations also formed quite the emotional bond between grandfather and grandson.

Taylor died two years ago. An American flag draped his casket. Ryan still has that flag. He keeps it in his room.

“I get emotional because it reminds me of him,” says Ryan, his voice breaking. “The flag is a reminder to keep going and serve the country that he served, too.”

Unlike his maternal grandfather, Ryan isn’t going into the Army. He longs for the Navy because he sees the Navy as key to the country’s future.

“If you control the seas,” he says, “you control the land.”

He will learn all about the importance of the sea -- and naval tradition -- at Granddaddy Taylor’s alma mater. He will enroll in UNC-Chapel Hill this fall, major in business, finance or economics and join the Naval ROTC program at the university.

Ryan is officer material. He’s the valedictorian of High Point Central. He’s also the student body president, president of the Beta Club, and a Bison soccer player all four years. He wore No. 5, his soccer jersey number since age 6.

Ryan wants to be a part of an American force that protects the country and preserves what he believes it stands for. And Ryan comes to his personal view of patriotism by what it has afforded him in his life.

 “It’s a cocktail of fortunes, I guess,” Ryan says. “I’ve had a free education, football games on Friday nights, and I’ve been able to speak freely, without the fear of suppression. It’s this visceral feeling I’ve always had. It’s something I’ve grown up with.”

Ryan is the middle of three sons. His dad, Kenneth, is a financial advisor; his mom, Betsy, is a retired first grade teacher; and his older brother, Andrew, a graduate of Mars Hill University, works as a coder for a fiber optics company in Hickory.

Then there is Ryan’s younger brother, Isaac. He is Ryan’s twin.

“I’m a whopping five minutes older than him,” Ryan says.

Are you close?

“Close would be an understatement,” Ryan responds.

Isaac and Ryan have gone to the same school throughout their lives. When they were young, their parents dressed them in coordinating colors. If you saw one, you saw the other.

But they are as different as night and day.

Isaac has Down’s Syndrome, a genetic disorder that delays physical growth, changes facial features and brings about mild to moderate intellectual disability.

Isaac can’t communicate well. So, Ryan communicates for him. He stands up for him, too.

One time, when Ryan was 8, a new family moved into their High Point neighborhood, and the new kids on the block thought Isaac was, as Ryan says, “weird.” They were rude. Ryan, at 8 years old, talked to them about his brother.

“I wanted them to know that he may look different and speak different, but we have the same goals and desires,” Ryan says today.

Along the way, Isaac and Ryan have become close. When they get together, they watch the same movies. Isaac always chooses, and he picks movies like “Titanic,” “Trolls” and “The Greatest Showman.”

With “The Greatest Showman,” Isaac wants Ryan to sing. Ryan does.

Isaac has a name for Ryan – “Doofus.” Ryan doesn’t mind. He laughs really. He knows he’s learned more from Isaac than funny nicknames and funnier songs.

“He’s taught me to accept others no matter what they look like or sound like,” Ryan says. “That’s driven me throughout my years. Accepting and loving someone for who they are.”

On June 12, Ryan will go through his drive-through graduation. Like a movie, he knows his time at High Point Central will flash through his mind. Meanwhile, right there beside him will be Isaac.

And what will Isaac do?

“He’ll be calling me Doofus,” Ryan says, “because I’m wearing my cap and gown.”

Original source: https://www.gcsnc.com/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=174&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=122149&PageID=1