I just wanted to share my memory of Ricky. I lived up the street (Amherst Lane) in the good ole days when fun was just hanging out on the street with friends. Ricky was a few years ahead of me in school and I looked up to him … after all, he had a paper route! I sure hoped I could have my own Washington Star route someday, and I shared that with him.

Well, one summer day he came to visit and we sat out on our front stoop talking. He was smoking and impressed me immensely by blowing fantastic smoke rings. But more than that, he said that he was thinking of giving up his route and would offer it to me. Wow. So I inherited it from him and went on to enjoy it for several years, later adding even another.

But then came the sad news. Someone I actually knew, just down the street, had been killed in action. And quite heroically. I felt so sad for the entire family, and remember going to the funeral at Pumphrey's to pay my respects.

I never go to the Wall without looking him up. I"m probably one of many who were in some way given a "positive" by his life. He gave me my first job, sense of ownership, and the start of my long business career that has taken me the world over.

Neighbor