Born In 1967*, Ross was raised in a suburb outside of New York City with his younger sister Monica. Ross was clearly the favorite child, to his parents, he was the Prince. When he wasn't busy teasing his chunky younger sister, he was busy dressing up in his mothers clothes and having tea parties with Monica's dolls. "I am Bea, I drink tea, wont you dance around with me..." he would sing.

Soon, he grew out of the tea stage, and moved on to an interest in dinosaurs and science. During his high school years, his attention was diverted from dino's and Princess Leia, to Monica's friend Rachel. Ross thought she was the most beautiful girl at Lincoln High. He wished he could get the nerve to ask her out, but figured Rachel would only consider him as Monica's older geeky brother. He became obsessed with Rachel,  he would write special songs about her that he would play on his keyboard.

When he left home for college, his parents were sure to leave a shrine to him in his room. College turned his life around.He and his roommate Chandler formed a band and wrote songs like "Emotional Knapsack" He still obsessed over Rachel though, even though he didn't get to see her that much. During Thanksgiving break he wanted to ask her out and take her out on the town with his new fake I.D., but she had gotten back together with her boyfriend and would spend the evening.   He still kept writing songs and dreaming of the day that he would get the nerve to ask her out. During summer break of '87, he almost got that chance. Monica, was going to her prom with Roy and they were double dating with Rachel and her date Chip. Ross had never seen Rachel look so stunning. He tried to impress her by playing his keyboard, he really wanted to play some of the songs he wrote about her, but could only bring himself to play the theme to Beverly Hills Cop.

All of a sudden, his beloved Rachel was crying. Chip had not shown up. How could she go to the prom without a date. Monica started crying, she didn't want to go if Rachel wasn't going.  Ross' dad came up with the plan that Ross should ask Rachel to go with him to the prom. Ross wasn't feeling too sure of himself, but with enough convincing from his parents, he ran upstairs to put on his dad's tux.

Rachel's knight in shining armor gave himself a pep talk, grabbed some flowers from his mom's vase, and was ready to ask the big question. Only problem, while he was getting changed, Chip decided to show up. Ross was devastated

During his sophomore year of college, he met a girl named Carol. She was amazing and athletic. She played for both the Lacrosse and Golf teams. She was no Rachel, but she made him happy. During Thanksgiving break that year, Rachel was once again over for dinner, she had a new nose and looked fantastic, but Ross didn't even care that much. He was looking hot too, decked out in his Miami Vice outfit and new hairdo. Besides, his mind was focused on Carol. Ross was also amazed that his baby sister lost so much of her weight and looked incredible.  Ross got protective of her when it looked like Chandler was going to try and put the moves on her. But soon, that Thanksgiving turned tragic when Monica somehow accidentally chopped off Chandler's pinky toe with a knife.

On a dare, Ross had to major in paleontology. When he wasn't studying about dino's, he was falling madly in love with Carol.  To prove his love, he bought her a crystal duck. Soon they were engaged. Wen he graduated college, he married Carol and they moved into the neighborhood of Chelsea in N.Y.C. .He then continued to study to get his doctorate in Paleontology.  His sister Monica was now  living at their grandmothers apartment in the Village. She was subletting the apartment since their grandmother moved down to Florida. His college friends Chandler and Kip took the apartment across from Monica, who was living with her strange friend Phoebe. When Ross graduated, he got a job at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. He loved it. He got to wear a white coat and build dinosaur displays.

Ross loved to go over to Monica's and visit with her and the rest of the gang. But it seemed as though Carol was starting to feel lonely in the big city. She joined a gym and soon became friends with Susan who changed her life. Ross was so glad that Carol found a new friend and was becoming happier. Kip was getting married and moving out of Chandlers and Joey Tribiani moved in. Monica had a crush on Joey, but turned out he was a bit of a womanizer.

It was at this time that Ross' world crashed around him. Carol had announced to him that she believed she was a lesbian. Feeling sad and depressed, Ross ran into Phoebe at their favorite bar. Phoebe tried to comfort him, but that turned into a disaster as they started to make out. They soon realized that what they were doing was stupid and stopped and had a good laugh.

For the next year, Ross and Carol tried to work things out, but that fall, she packed her things and moved in with Susan. It was at this time that Rachel came back into his life. He was sitting at the former bar, which was now a coffee house, with the rest of the gang when she ran through the door in a wedding dress looking for Monica. It was Rachel's wedding day, she was to marry some dentist guy Barry, but when she was about to walk down the isle, she realized that Barry looked a lot like Mr. Potato head and she didn't love him and shouldn't marry him just because he was a doctor.

Rachel decides to stay with Monica. Ross was so delighted to have her back in his life again. It eased the pain of Carol leaving him. He felt it had to be fate. When they finally had some time alone together, Ross confessed to Rachel that he had a crush on her in high school. She told him she knew. He asked her if it would be alright to ask her out sometime, and she said "sure."

But, when would he get the nerve?

One day, while at work, Carol showed up. She had big news for him. She was pregnant with his child. Ross is shocked! Carol told him that she and Susan wanted Ross to be involved with it all, if he wants to be. He decides he wants to be involved, but one day they went to the OB/GYN and started to argue over the name. Turns out, that Susan and Carol want Susan's last name mixed in with the others. Ross didn't like the idea of this at all, and was about to walk out of there when they suddenly heard the baby's heart beat. Then seeing it on the sonogram, Ross was instantly in love with his unborn child. Someway, somehow, they could make this all work out.

Chandler advises Ross not to use snuggles and to not bring along the dirty underwear. Even though Ross felt that the snuggles would show his sensitive side, he went to buy a big box of Uberweiss. Maybe that would show Rachel what a man he is.

It turned out that Rachel was a "Laundry Virgin", so Ross was gentle with her and showed her the ropes. Meanwhile a horrible woman was tormenting Rachel and taking her machines. Ross stepped in and put the woman in her place. When the woman later took Ross' cart, Rachel stood up to her and told her off. So proud of herself, Rachel kissed Ross on the lips to celebrate her victory. Their first kiss. Ross could see fireworks. but was that from the kiss? Or banging his head on the dryer door.

A few weeks later, there is a blackout in New York City. The gang is at Monica's and Rachel's which they have lit up with lots of candles. Ross decides to take advantage of the romantic situation and try and woo Rachel once again. Joey warns him that it's too late, he's already in the "friend's zone".

Ross didn't think so, and starts to tell Rachel how he feels about her when he is suddenly attacked by a cat. The cat gets away and Rachel and Phoebe try and find the cat. Rachel has found that cat and it's owner Paolo, some big hunky Italian guy. Ross instantly became jealous of this man. He tries to tell Paolo that he and Rachel are a thing, but that doesn't seem to get through to Paolo. When the last candle burnt out, and the gang started making scary noises in the dark, the lights came back on and Ross was horrified to see his Rachel kissing Paolo.

If having Paolo in their lives now wasn't tragic enough for Ross, he and Monica got word that their Nana was dying. They went to the hospital and reminisced about happy times with Nana and the things she did when Nana passed on. When they said their good-byes to Nana, she suddenly came back to life nearly giving Ross a heart attack. Soon, she passed on again. At her funeral, he accidentally fell into a grave and hurt his back. His mom gave him some of her pain killers. Taking a little too many pain killers, and being a bit out of it, Ross told his friends how much he loved them, than said to Rachel, with all the sincerity he could manage "and I love you the most". Rachel playfully told him that she loved him the most. Frustrated he said she didn't get it and passed out.

One day, Ross stopped by Carol and Susan's to pick up a skull that Carol had borrowed. To his dismay, Carol was not there so he had to make conversation with Susan. She tells him all about how they talk to the baby and how she wants it to know her voice. Ross, asks if they talk about him at all, but she tells him that they just refer to him as "Bobo  the sperm guy". Feeling jealous, Ross wants to talk to the baby too. So, that Thanksgiving, he goes over there to talk to his unborn child, but can't think of anything to say. Finally, he starts telling it his life story.

Carol suggests that maybe he sing to it, he refuses, but Carol mentions that Susan sings to it and he instantly starts to sing. The baby responds with a big kick, the three of them are so excited. When Ross returns to Monica's feeling on top of the world, he discovers that their Thanksgiving dinner is ruined and they end up having grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ross soon gets a new roommate, not a person, but a monkey - Marcel. His friend Bethel rescued Marcel from a lab. Ross starts to feel that Marcel isn't bonding with him. One night, Chandler monkey-sits for him, and entertains him with juggling and stuff. Marcel never does that for Ross.

With New Years Eve quickly approaching, the gang make a pact not to have any dates and spend the evening together. All of a sudden,  Phoebe starts dating some weird scientist guy and wants to bring him, Chandler caves in and wants to bring Janice, so then Monica and Joey cave in and bring dates and to make matters worse, Paolo is coming back from Italy. So, Ross' date ends up being Marcel. But in the end, it seems as though their pact became a reality because Monica's date Fun Bobby was depressed over his grandfather's death, Joey's date Sandy makes out with someone else, Phoebe breaks up with Max, and Chandler also breaks it off (again) with Janice.

After the holidays, Chandler's Mom - Nora Bing comes to town while on a book tour. She and the gang go to a restaurant for dinner one night. To Ross' dismay, Paolo is there with Rachel. The couple upsets Ross and he starts drinking A Lot of shots. While on his way to the bathroom, he runs into Nora who is on the phone, she figures out what is bothering him and consoles him, and ends up kissing him passionately - which Joey sees. The next day, Joey yells at Ross for breaking the code,  "you can't kiss a guys mom". Ross frets over telling Chandler the truth. But ended up telling him that Paolo did it before he finally admits it. Chandler freaks out! Ross knew how much Chandler went through with his mom, how could he have done this. Chandler starts calling him "Mother-Kisser". Ross tries to convince Chandler to talk to his mom about what happened and what bothers him about the things she does. Chandler gets the courage to talk to her and gets everything off his chest, and then makes up with his best Ross.

Preparing for fatherhood, Ross starts to read up on having a baby. Carol and Susan already know what the sex of the baby is, but Ross wants to be surprised when the baby pops out. But it gets more and more difficult as all of the gang know but him.

One day while sitting in Central Perk, Phoebe comes in to tell them (except for Rachel) that Paolo made a pass at her. This is great news for Ross who convinces her to tell Rachel before she goes off to the Poconos with him for the weekend. After she has broken the news to Rachel, Joey convinces Ross to go in and console her. Ross tells the distraught Rachel that she deserves a guy who can appreciate her, but Rachel doesn't want another guy, for he is swearing them off. She wants to be by herself for a while. Ross tries to tell her that all guys aren't like Paolo, and she says "Yah, well I'm sure your little boy wont turn out to be like Paolo". A Boy! Ross is going to have a son.

The dreaded Valentines Day is approaching. Chandler and Joey convince Ross to ask out a woman who lives in his building who once lent him an egg, Kristen. This was his first date since Carol. He takes her to Benihana's for dinner. While trying to make conversation with Kristen, in walks Carol and Susan, and to his horror, are seated at their table. He explains to Kristen their special situation. When Susan suddenly has to leave, Ross invites Carol over to sit with them. They start to reminisce over the good times and he doesn't even realize that Kristen left. But he doesn't seem to care because he is content with Carol and tells her he still loves her and how they were perfect together. Carol tells him that she loves him too, but that nothing has changed and that someday he will find the right girl, and she'll like men.

Can he ever find love again?

Trying to move on, Ross asks out a girl from work, Celia "the bug lady". The guys tell him that he can probably really impress her by bringing her back to his place and showing her his monkey - Marcel. But this turns into a disaster when Marcel gets too playful with her and pulls her hair.

The next time they go out, he brings her back to his place, and while making out, she tells him to talk dirty to her, but all Ross can do is blurt out the word "Vulva", so they just end up cuddling. He goes to woman expert Joey to get some dirty talk advice. The next time he goes out with Celia, he's prepared with the dirty talk, that they dirty talk so much, that all they do is end up cuddling again.

That relationship phased out quickly, and Ross once again put his focus on Rachel. But more importantly, the upcoming birth of his son and becoming a father.

Ross started to have nightmares about his unborn child. Such as dreaming that he was playing football with his child, which sounds nice, but his child WAS the football. While having dinner one evening with his father, Ross talked to him about when he first felt like a father. His father told him about how when he was born, and he held Ross for the first time, Ross grabbed his finger so tight.

One day, while the gang was playing Scrabble, Marcel swallowed a Scrabble tile. The gang rush him to the hospital. Turns out not only did he swallow a K, but he swallowed an M and an O. Was he trying to spell monkey? Chandler asks Ross if he feels like a dad yet since he came through for Marcel. Ross said he didn't, but suddenly Marcel wakes up and grabs Ross' finger.

Ross' fondness for Rachel kept on growing. It was so much different from when they were teenagers, now they were friends. He even let her win at a game of poker when she didn't get a job she really wanted. He wanted to make her happy. Their friendship was to be tested, though,  when he let Rachel monkeysit Marcel. Rachel told Ross that she is now ready to move on and find a guy, the right guy. Ross is convinced that he is THE guy. Ross decides that he is going to try and woo her. While on his way to pick up Marcel at Rachel's, he picks up a bottle of wine, thinking that this may be the night. While trying to tell her his feelings, Rachel breaks the news to him that she lost Marcel. Ross freaks out and yells at her. How could she lose his monkey? He freaks out even more when he finds out she called animal control. Ross cannot legally have Marcel in the city because it is illegal. He's terrified that Marcel will be taken away from him. The gang all try to find Marcel before the evil girl from animal control does. They end up finding Marcel at Mr. Heckles, Monica and Rachel's kooky downstairs neighbor. Mr. Heckles claims the monkey is his and has him dressed in a tutu. Luisa, the woman from animal control, who just so happened to have gone to school with Monica and Rachel tried to take Marcel, but Rachel blackmailed her and they got Marcel back. Ross apologized to Rachel and was about to tell her how he felt, when suddenly Barry, Rachel's ex-fiancée storms in. He is now engaged to Rachel's maid of honor, Mindy,  and tells her that he doesn't think he can do it, and that he may still be in love with her. Ross thinks that Rachel and Monica should start locking their door.

So, Rachel starts to hang out with Barry much to Ross' dismay. Barry didn't deserve Rachel, he did. Ross couldn't understand why she would be with Barry, he even tried to tell her how crazy it was. Rachel tried to tell him that if Carol came back to him, he would probably go back to her. But would he? He felt that way on Valentines day, but Carol had moved on. Even if she did come back and say that she wanted him back, could he ever trust her again? But he was mostly over Carol, now he wanted to be with Rachel, and she was with Barry. It was more than he could take. When Mindy sees Rachel again, she asks Rachel to be her maid of honor. Then tells Rachel that she thinks that Barry is having an affair. Rachel confesses, and the girls confronted Barry. Rachel realizes what a jerk Barry really is, and is done with him. Ross is relived.

Marcel started to drive everyone crazy. He was humping everything in sight. Ross told them not to worry, it was "just a phase". But, when he took Marcel to the vet, he found out that it wasn't a phase. Marcel had matured and that was the way he was going to be. Ross made the difficult decision to give Marcel to a zoo. It was so hard to say goodbye to him. Marcel helped to fill up the emptiness in his home since Carol left. But, as sad as he was to see Marcel go, it was time to start concentrating on the birth of his son.

Carol got Ross a beeper to get in touch with him when she went into labor. The first time the beeper went off, he went Nuts! The baby was coming! But, to his disappointment (and the person who called him), it was a wrong number. Turns out that they wanted some sort of 55JUMBO guy named Andre. So, he and Carol had to make a secret beeper code. If 911 showed up on his beeper, it was time.

Rachel came into Central Perk one day and told everyone how she had a wild dream about her and Chandler. Ross was so jealous. He wanted to be in one of Rachel's dreams. Then another day, she told them all how she had another dream, this time involving Chandler and Joey. What dumb luck, why couldn't HE be in one of Rachel's' dreams. She was sure in his dreams all the time. One night, he was over at her place watching t.v.. She fell asleep on the couch. He decided that maybe he should leave. All of a sudden, she starts calling out his name. She was dreaming about him. He started to dance around the apartment and on the coffee table. He accidentally slipped and fell on the couch waking her up. She was dazed and a little confused, and about to tell him what she was dreaming when his beeper went off - 911. "Oh great, now I'm having a baby." The baby was coming. Ross was so excited that he fell off the couch.

He rounded everyone up. The baby was coming, the baby was coming. All of a sudden, he panicked, was he really ready? He was going to be a father. He wanted to faint.

When they all got to the hospital, he was freaking out because Carol and Susan hadn't arrived yet. When they got there, Ross and Susan just couldn't get along. They were constantly at each others throats.  Ross felt Susan shouldn't be there, it wasn't her child. What right did she have? They wanted to name their son Jordie. How could they chose a name for the baby without consulting him. Carol got sick of them fighting and kicked them out. They continued their arguments out in the hall. Phoebe couldn't take it and brought them into a supply closet to tell them to stop yelling. Children shouldn't be coming into the world with all of their negative energy. When they agreed to calm down, they discovered that they were locked in the closet. Here it was one of the biggest days of Ross' life, and he was locked in a stupid supply closet. He and Susan started fighting again. Phoebe told them how lucky the baby was, he actually has three parents fighting over who loved it the most.

They finally came up with a plan to go through the vent. Phoebe put on a custodians outfit with the name tag Ben. Just as she went in the vent, Someone opened the door. Ross and Susan made it into the delivery room just in time. All of a sudden, there he was. Ross' son. A new life was born. Ross, Carol and Susan were overcome with joy. But, what were they going to call him. Ross suggests Ben. Ben, that name is perfect. Ross was a father.

Ross just couldn't get over the miracle that had come into his life. Of course he was sad that he couldn't see him every day. But he was so happy that he had decided to be involved in it. Looking back, how could he have even thought for a minute that he almost walked out of the OB/GYN office those months ago. Ben was so amazing. He couldn't get enough of him.

Rachel's birthday was approaching. He wanted to get her something nice. He remembered that one day they were walking down the street and she saw this broach in the window of this store, and how much it reminded her of her grandmother. He knew that he had to get that for her for her birthday. He didn't care about the cost. Rachel was worth it. Maybe then she would realize how much she meant to him. He couldn't wait to give it to Rachel. He just hoped that he would have the chance to give it to her before he had to go to China. His work was sending him to a dig in China to help get a bone for the museum.

The gang was having a barbecue for Rachel's birthday the same day that he had to leave to China. He rushed over to Monica and Rachel's with the gift, but turns out she was out having drinks with some guy Carl. He asked the guys who Carl was, and they told him that he should forget about Rachel. Move on. If it was going to happen, it would have happened already. He left the gift for her with them and went off to China for a week.

Okay, maybe the guys were right. Maybe he should forget about Rachel. Right now he had other concerns. He wanted to learn how to speak Chinese. At least he could listen to his "How to Speak Chinese" tape on the plane, that would help him get his mind off Rachel.

China ended up being fantastic. On the dig, he ran into an old college friend, Julie. She was amazing. She was so smart and funny. Maybe she was just who he needed to forget about Rachel. They had so much in common. They really had a great time in China. he couldn't wait until they got back to New York, and he could introduce her to his friends.

Is Julie really the love for Ross?

Will he ever really forget about Rachel?

Well, of course you know the answers, but this story will be continued soon, so tune in.

*Please note that this date was true until recently when the writers of Friends seem to be making him a year younger all of a sudden.

Some vidcaps above are from Miss Peggy's Friends Site