Monday, October 17, 2016

Loss of special guy.

  When I heard that Rick Neal died last week, on October 11, 2016, I was surprised and sad. Surprised because he was only 64 years old and sad because he was a special guy from my past.
  I met Rick when I was a junior in high school and he had just graduated. We became friends and spent so many special times together....going to concerts (he loved music), swimming, movies, eating out, and playing games with our families. Once I graduated high school and went on to college we lost touch with each other until my third year. We ran into each other when I was home for a weekend. That meeting began our new relationship. Rick would come up to OSU on the weekends and help me study, go out to eat, check out the local music, and just enjoy each other. He was always such a gentleman, caring, courteous with a kind and generous spirit. He had a great sense of humor and we shared tons of fun times together.
    Over the years many things happened in both of our lives. I ended up moving to Texas and married Mike and Rick stayed in Ohio and married Karen and started his family and landscape business.
   Our paths never crossed again. That was over 34 years ago. I don't know what his life was like during that time, but I feel certain he kept his sense of humor, loved his family, and built a great business because of his hard work.
    I dug thru old photo albums and found a few pictures of Rick from way back then. Sweet memories of a special guy.