Viola Ryan

A very good friend of Viola Ryan in high school said, "You don't think outside the box. You blow the thing up." Sometimes boxes need exploding. That's why she's here. She has a whole bag of C4 and isn't afraid to use it. She's blessed with people who treasure her eccentricities or at least put up with them.

Sometimes the box can be a cozy place. Without some sort of stability, her two daughters' and her life would be unmanageable. That stability comes from her husband. He's the rock holding her family together.

On the flip side, his career is anything but stable. He's a Chief Marine Safety Technician in the US Coast Guard. They've lived from Kittery, Maine to Yorktown, Virginia. Fortunately, the moves have all been on the east coast. Then again, the Coast Guard tends to guard the coast. Her oldest daughter (15) was born on Cape Cod, not far from Plymouth. Massachusetts. Her youngest (12) was born in Yorktown, Virginia, down the road from Williamsburg. Viola jokes they're doing the colonial America tour.