Today would have been my brother’s 73rd birthday. Richard “Dickie” was seven years older than me, which when you are a child seemed like a million, billion, years.
Melodie was just two years younger, and she and Dickie were really close. When I was small, they took pretty good care of their little sister.
Melodie, Dickie and me.
My brother was born prematurely and was very small. His birth was a tough one, and he had lifelong effects from it.
My brother was well-loved by many. The one thing I can say is that he tried hard, always and he loved deeply.
He married a woman with four kids, and I know he loved each and every one of them. Together they had two sons. They will, unfortunately, never really know how proud and happy he was the days they were born. You see, when he was in his early twenties he became ill with cancer.
He loved to cook and he loved his music. Although he never could learn to read music, all he had to do was hear something once and he could play it either on the guitar or the piano.
He learned he had cancer at the age of 26. On April 1st, April Fools Day. And he fought long and hard to win his battle against that dreaded disease. Unfortunately, back in 1977, cancer treatment was brutally hard and seldom worked on Lymphoma and Leukemia.
Dickie passed from this life to the next on April 2nd, 1978. We miss you, Dickie, and hope you are happy and celebrating with all of the family up there in Heaven.