Rick was a strong, compassionate man.  Toward the end of his life, he would only say he was fine ... and that he loved me.  He just never complained and did not want me to worry. He recognized his struggles, and in the end, reached out to God and those he loved.  With each passing month, I loved him more and more. I miss my brother.

I went to grammar school with Ricky.  He was a great inspiration. How he typed away on his brail typewriter, but more amazing was how he could read raised dots with his fingers at tremendous speed. He  bumped his head on tether ball poles twice and got huge bumps on his head. He took it in stride.  I will look him up in heaven.  Carol Havercroft

I never said "thank you," Carol, for the memory you wrote.  Rick's birthday was April 19, and it seems surreal that he has been departed for over two years.  Your memory parallels mine. He had a sense of bravery about him.  He was my big brother.  He taught me about never making excuses and taking responsibility for our own actions. I had Rick interred at Lone Tree Cemetery, in Hayward.

Three years seems like 30 years.  Never a day passes that you are not in my prayers and in my thoughts.  I miss my big brother.  I know that you are "Seeing Heaven's Beauty," just as your inscription says.  I went to visit you at the cemetery, but instead of visiting your inscription, I felt your presence and your peace.  I know that you, Mom, Dad and George are always around me.

I look upon my brother's marker and realize how Blessed I was to have him as my brother.  He taught me about bravery, about compassion and about always loving family.  He would have been 70 years old today.  Not a day passes that I pray he finally sees in Heaven - his sight restored.  I did not have a blind, disabled brother.  I had a warrior brother, who never gave up. I miss him so much.