Are Sam and Ryan Brothers?

“Is that your brother?”

Along with “Are you Sam’s dad?” are the number 1 questions we are asked on social media. The dad question is disturbing because I’m only 4 years older than Sam is, but it makes me think I look much older than my actual age for people to assume I’m his father.

Responding to these questions every time they are asked could be a full-time job. That’s great because it means we always have new people joining our adventures and watching the Samd and Ryan show.

We often don’t reply to these questions and comments because it would just take up too much of our time. I’ve written this article and pinned it at the top of our Facebook page. If people really want to know the answer they will need to do a little more research and it looks like you dear reader have found the answer.

Sometimes we give sarcastic answers in the comments like,

“We’re sisters. I’m Sam’s uncle. Ryan is my niece.”

“We became friends when Sam asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance in high school. It was girl’s choice” Sam hates that one.

Do You Want the Truth?

Sam and I are old friends. How old is hard to say. Our parents attended the same church and when to college together when they were just starting their married lives.

Sam has an older brother named Nick who is my age. Somewhere there is an old picture of Nick and me in diapers because Sam’s mother was babysitting me.

Nick and I always knew each other and became very good friends during our senior year of high school. We often brought Sam along on our adventures because we didn’t want him to feel left out, and he had one of those handicapped parking passes.

I have always enjoyed spending time with Sam because he laughs very hard at my dumb jokes. Sometimes Sam makes me feel like I’m ready for a stand-up act on the Tonight Show I can get him laughing so hard.

Enter Extreme Motus

Sam and I haven’t always been this close. At times, my life has taken me far away from the small town where I grew up and where Sam still lives.

I served a 2 year mission for my church in Canada. After that I joined the military and that had me traveling away from home often. During a military deployment in Panama, I fell in love with a woman.

We married and spent the first 2 years of our married life in Panama. There was many years of my life where I spent more time out of the United States than in.

Anytime I returned home I would pop in on Sam and watch as he went ballistic with excitement at my return. No one has ever been as excited as Sam gets when an old friend stops by to visit.

When my wife was pregnant with our son we were trying to settle on a name she asked, “What about Sam?”

I liked the idea. If my son could be as happy and optimistic about life as my friend Sam that would be great.

When I did eventually settle down in the area my wife would occasionally say, “You should go hang out with Sam.”

But as many of you know maintaining friendships when you have a family and career can be difficult.

I have been creating content since the early days of YouTube on a channel called HalfThrottle.

One day I was looking for freelance work on a website called Upwork and I found a post from a company called Extreme Motus. When I saw their off-road wheelchair I knew it would be perfect for Sam.

Together we made this video:

Not long after that, Extreme Motus asked me to work for them full-time. Sam and I now get to hang out almost every day going on adventures and getting into trouble.

The Extreme Motus social media feeds have turned into the Sam and Ryan show and many viewers have no idea they are watching content marketing for an all-terrain wheelchair company.

The Sam and Ryan show is all about showing the world how much fun you can have with the right piece of mobility equipment. Before Extreme Motus Sam had a hard time getting outdoors.

Hanging out with Sam often meant going to a movie or staying at home and playing board games. Sam is a prolific cheater when it comes to board games so it’s best to avoid playing at all costs.

The Sam and Ryan show couldn’t exist without the Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchair. It has opened up the world to us and we have been able to make so many amazing memories with that wheelchair. It’s given both of us a purpose in life.

Do you remember the time in your life, maybe you were around 12 or 13 years old when a friend would call and ask, “Can you play today?” Well, I’m 43 and it happens to me every day at 9 am when Sam calls to ask if we are going on an adventure. It’s a very nice way to start my morning.

I feel so lucky to have a friend like Sam who calls every day to ask if I want to play.

If you are interested in purchasing an Extreme Motus off-road wheelchair like Sam check out our online store.