I first met Rich at my aunt Julie's condo when they were newly dating. I had just gotten back from my first trip to Alaska (2001) and we were hanging out at Julie's while I was in Oregon on vacation. I don't recall where Julie was (I think she was on a phone call for an extended time in the house), but I was stuck (so to speak) alone with Rich on the back patio. We talked about my trip, looked at my pictures and covered many other topics, killing time while waiting for Julie to rejoin us.
At that point, my first impression of him was that he was a know-it-all, and that he was just far too huggy. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not the kind of person to hug someone I've just met, especially not my aunts new boyfriend!! But, it seemed that Rich and Julie were destined to get married, so I figured I'd just better get to know him (and hopefully prove my assumptions wrong). And wrong they were. Well...I'll explain.
The reason he seemed like he knew-it-all, was because he was a good 20 years older than I, and had that much more life experience than I did. He also was always very interested in others, so he learned a wealth of information from being a good listener and an excellent conversationalist. He was also a salesman, which helped in those areas too! And the hugs, well, he just hugged everyone. Whether he knew you or not, you got a hug. It didn't take long for him to be welcomed into our family, and what a blessing he was to us all. He is surely missed!
At the funeral home for his visitation, Rich's brother stated how that if we could all listen a bit better, hug a bit more and be more open, this world would be a much better place. I agree. These were Rich's greatest strengths, and we could all learn a lesson from his example.
My favorite story of his though, is when he lived in New York City. He was selling furniture in a multi-leveled (4-5 story) building, and was showing a family around, pointing out different pieces to them as they went. There was a 12 or 13 year old boy with his parents, and the boy kept ripping tags off the furniture and throwing them on the floor. (I'm remembering he had ripped like 100 or so tags off different pieces) Rich had patiently asked him to stop, nicely asked the parents to have him stop, to no avail. So, on one of their ride up to the next floor, Rich ended up behind this kid in the elevator. He then (I can't specifically remember) either elbowed the kid in the back all the way up to the next floor, or gripped the back of his collar while giving him a smiling do-it-again-and-you'll-really-pay look, and then they proceeded on with the tour. The boys parents wondered why he was behaving so well at last (they hadn't seen a thing), as the boy was good as gold the rest of the time. If he even thought about misbehaving, Rich would glare at him and he'd shape right up! It was probably the first "discipline" the kid had ever had.
At that point, my first impression of him was that he was a know-it-all, and that he was just far too huggy. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not the kind of person to hug someone I've just met, especially not my aunts new boyfriend!! But, it seemed that Rich and Julie were destined to get married, so I figured I'd just better get to know him (and hopefully prove my assumptions wrong). And wrong they were. Well...I'll explain.
The reason he seemed like he knew-it-all, was because he was a good 20 years older than I, and had that much more life experience than I did. He also was always very interested in others, so he learned a wealth of information from being a good listener and an excellent conversationalist. He was also a salesman, which helped in those areas too! And the hugs, well, he just hugged everyone. Whether he knew you or not, you got a hug. It didn't take long for him to be welcomed into our family, and what a blessing he was to us all. He is surely missed!
At the funeral home for his visitation, Rich's brother stated how that if we could all listen a bit better, hug a bit more and be more open, this world would be a much better place. I agree. These were Rich's greatest strengths, and we could all learn a lesson from his example.
My favorite story of his though, is when he lived in New York City. He was selling furniture in a multi-leveled (4-5 story) building, and was showing a family around, pointing out different pieces to them as they went. There was a 12 or 13 year old boy with his parents, and the boy kept ripping tags off the furniture and throwing them on the floor. (I'm remembering he had ripped like 100 or so tags off different pieces) Rich had patiently asked him to stop, nicely asked the parents to have him stop, to no avail. So, on one of their ride up to the next floor, Rich ended up behind this kid in the elevator. He then (I can't specifically remember) either elbowed the kid in the back all the way up to the next floor, or gripped the back of his collar while giving him a smiling do-it-again-and-you'll-really-pay look, and then they proceeded on with the tour. The boys parents wondered why he was behaving so well at last (they hadn't seen a thing), as the boy was good as gold the rest of the time. If he even thought about misbehaving, Rich would glare at him and he'd shape right up! It was probably the first "discipline" the kid had ever had.
