Ric

As you most probably know, we lost my Stepdad, Ric, a few weekends ago. Here are some memories I have of a wonderful man.

I will never forget the first time I met Ric. I was probably around 14 yrs old. Ric walked into our house and our lives changed forever. He was slender with brown curls falling down to his shoulders. The cowboy boots and cowboy hat he wore made him seem 8 feet tall! We laughed many times with Ric about that first meeting...how at first impression he seemed to be a skinny, hippy cowboy and turned out to be...well..a not so skinny, goofball with way above average intelligence! And turns out the cowboy bit was pretty much just a way to pick up the girls! As was the slender thing, Ric later said!

Another very vivid memory I have is of a road trip that Lacey, my mom, Ric, and I all took home from a softball tournament in Colorado. I don't think Ric would have done it at all if he would have known what it was like in a car with 2 sixteen year old girls! Especially ones like us who really like to talk!  I think he made it to day 2 of the trip before he screamed "No one can talk for at least 30 minutes!"  It was the first time we heard Ric scream! Lacey and I paused a moment in shock and then both laughed and asked what were we supposed to do? Along that trip we also had to stop so that Ric could moo at the cows. Yes moo at the cows! (So Ric!)

We loved having Ric give speeches. He was so eloquent, it was always a show stopper when he had the microphone. From my Mom and his wedding to Lacey and Dan's wedding 10 years later..he just had a way with words.

Gavin loved the way Gumpa Ric would read a story. He never read the words but just made up things to say as he went along. Gavin was sometimes confused, sometimes annoyed ( when he knew the story well enough to know Gumpa wasn't getting it right!), but he was always entertained! ( the rest of us were too!)

Ric taught me how to change a tire, helped buy me my first car, helped me buy my first and second house.
I'll always remember talks by he pond, how he could do any calculation in his head, his goofiness, how he seemed to know about everything and most importantly how much he loved my Mom.

I'm sure there are memories that will come into my head later...and make me laugh,  and I will wonder why I didn't think of it when I was writing this. But I think maybe that's how it's supposed to be. So that we can be surprised by those happy memories and remember him always. And we will.


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