Marie Ryan

Background

About Marie Ryan

Back before a thousand things happened – before a national pandemic, multiple heart attacks, and life going by too fast, I never thought about what footprint I created throughout my life. I thought I had more time. After facing my own mortality at 43, I realized what I didn’t have was more time. If I was going to live my life intentionally with purpose I had to start now. Making an impact. It’s not that I was unaware of the needs of others but raising six children and being married left me little time. My name is Marie Ryan and I’m the last person on earth to be chief defender and chief storyteller of an after-school initiative and planner of a multi-thousand-dollar skatepark in Irmo, South Carolina. But it’s just one of the things I’d never thought I’d be doing at this point in my life. After being given the diagnosis of heart failure, everything suddenly became more important. The reality of a shorter life didn’t make me slow down, it motivated me faster and farther than I had ever dreamed. But focusing on getting this park built and the youth in our community has truly helped breathe life into my soul. In reality, it’s not the impact I’ve made in my community. It’s the deep impact this has had on myself and my family. I am humbled and honored that I have been allowed to be involved in a capacity not governed by race, politics, or any other hindrance. Altruism is contagious and infectious especially if witnessed by others. My purpose to build a community skatepark was not actually the goal. I realize how distracted I’ve been through the years and how often I missed the real benefit of a project. I had my work cut out for me with this project because I knew nothing about skateparks. I didn’t even skate. My lack of experience with skateparks didn’t matter because this project was about love, youth, and community. This was an even bigger reason to lead this project.