Instant Friends

Have you ever had a friend you connected with so well, that when you made eye contact across a party you knew that at that exact moment the plan in their head was for you to get on your hands and knees behind the person they were talking to in order for them to do the classic ‘make them fall backwards’? (While successful, I almost got my ass kicked so nobody has to worry about that one again). Or getting out of a cab and instinctually knowing that your friend will do their own thing and get out the wrong side even as you say ‘don’t get out that side!’. (And shakingly turn around to see if they are ok after you hear a crunching sound and see the door still in his hand bent in half after a car raked it… luck was on his side that day).

I was lucky to have this friend in Rick, a partner in crime during some of the most fun years of my life. We bonded over a love of practical jokes, shots of Jaeger, and all things in between.

I first met Rick at the beach. I have no idea how we went from playing the race car game at Grotto’s, to a group of us staying at his parents house in Atlanta for the ‘96 Olympics. It just happened. I barely knew him, yet we were welcomed into his home like we were old friends. I had my first real taste of awesome southern cooking from his mom. Who would have known I’d like fried Okra???

The Olympics

Rick was hurting from a night out before the rest of us got there. But of course that meant that each night we had to break his Olympic record and stay out even later! By the end of the week we were coming home while listening to morning talk radio - with OJ Simpson being interviewed!

Having Rick with us meant we would meet everyone who looked interesting. Singing ‘ole ole ole’ on the streets with the Italian baseball team that had been creamed by the US that day? Check. Saying hi to Karch Kiraly, beach volleyball legend? Check. Hanging with the American gymnast who had just rallied the team to a gold medal? Check. Hitting a different Waffle House every night to finally to top it with the ones with the tiny doors for kids like us to play in? Getting our own bricks in Centennial Square? Yep!

the old "I'm full" joke

Probably the best was him teaching Giao/Patrick, our Vietnamese friend, how to speak Southern. ‘Ha, how you?’ became the staple greeting.

(This photo is one of our favorite jokes we played on him. The place was empty so Rick just grabbed a seat in front. Cyndi and I told the bouncer to pretend to kick him out. You can see him behind Rick. Rick is pissed. I can’t find the photo when he caught us laughing. If you look at the next photo when we are all in the seats, he still doesn’t look too happy with us!)

 Apparently I was a lucky charm that week, as by the end of the week I couldn’t break the record and asked to be dropped off at home early. An hour later Rick and Cyndi called to tell me they are OK. The attack occurred down the street. When we woke up the next day we discovered it was the bomb that went off, and they would have been there if I had come because I wouldn’t have liked the bar they were hanging out at. True or not, it was nice to be included. Watching CNN, we saw some people being interviewed in the morning. Of COURSE, Rick had met them the night before after the bombing when they stumbled into the bar.  

Jazz Fest

I have to give Rick a lot of credit for expanding my music horizons. While we always had the same taste in classic rock, Rick knew all the other genres as well. So he convinced a group of us to go to the Jazz fest in ‘97. 

Nobody had heard of this before, but Rick said it was good so let’s do it. At Jazzfest we met Clark, Rick’s best friend and an all around cool dude who was living down there at the time. Rick and Clark showed us the music scene, including knowing that with one band the drummer from REM was standing in, or with another band someone else was there. They knew their stuff which made us feel like insiders.

 

The weather didn’t cooperate, so of course Rick made up a game to kill the day. Let’s see if we can drink a shot from A-Z in 26 bars! This made for fun side bets on who was going to go down first. I think they made it to K. Pat O’Brien’’s Hurricanes took most of us down.

We still managed to rally for the (mud)fest and see some amazing bands I hadn’t heard of before. Thank you for that!

  

My 40th

4 years later we were still going strong. I celebreated my 40th bday with a week down in South Beach. The first night Rick was there he made sure we had the whole experience, walking into any type of bar we saw, not caring what it was. Because it was all about the fun of it.

One of my favorite memories of the trip was when there was a lag in our crowd for a couple of days and it was just the two of us hanging out. We were eating lunch at Johnny Rockets when who sits next to us, but Jose Canseco! It was almost like the scene from Seinfeld when Kramer was trying to get Joe Dimaggio’s attention. At one point, when Jose stood up to pull out his wallet, Rick stood up so he was standing beside him (this was before the days of selfies). I found out Rick was sizing himself up against Jose. Rick is a pretty big guy but was totally dwarfed. After Jose left we were chatting up our waitress who told us what a terrible tipper he is, And that she dates Alex Rodriguez (yeah, you and a hundred others).  

One of my favorite memories of the trip was when there was a lag in our crowd for a couple of days and it was just the two of us hanging out. We were eating lunch at Johnny Rockets when who sits next to us, but Jose Canseco! It was almost like the scene from Seinfeld when Kramer was trying to get Joe Dimaggio’s attention. At one point, when Jose stood up to pull out his wallet, Rick stood up so he was standing beside him (this was before the days of selfies). I found out Rick was sizing himself up against Jose. Rick is a pretty big guy but was totally dwarfed. After Jose left we were chatting up our waitress who told us what a terrible tipper he is, And that she dates Alex Rodriguez (yeah, you and a hundred others).

I mention this because I believe this is a talent I acquired from Rick. Talk to anyone and everyone and you will get a good story while making new friends.

Oh yeah (the memories keep flooding in!) during that trip we went scuba diving. Rick had inspired me to get certified. While a few of us were doing a coral dive, Rick started poking his fingers in the crevasses trying to grab a lobster. The lobster won and cut his finger. Realize, this was just a couple of minutes after a shark went blazing by us. Rick, just being Rick, gave us an unexpected adrenaline rush as we went into panic mode looking for that shark.

 

Golfing

I think Caddyshack was his favorite movie. So of course we got into golfing. I needed a diversion from daytime Starboard, so Rick and I made a point to golf at the beach when I was there.

One day we went to Dewey right as a hurricane was hitting. So what does Rick suggest we do? Golf in the hurricane! Being Rick, he was able to charm the golf shop into letting us play 9 holes. Seriously, it was pouring rain and windy. And I’m sure he was wearing his infamous bright yellow biking shirt and red shorts. But damn it was fun!

I remember we were going to meet some friends at Seacrets in Ocean City. I picked him up off the beach and a couple girls from the beach house said it sounded like a fun place, so they came along. As we were driving, naturally we decide to pull a prank and tell them we are actually going golfing, and that they are now our caddies. Seriously, you really believe there is a bar where you can lay on a raft and they will bring you drinks? In OCEAN CITY??? They were fuming… until we pulled into Seacrets (you know who you are :) ).

Rickisms

The stories could go on forever. Here are some brief Rickisms:

• Rick could frustrate you. But no matter what he did, somehow you still laughed.
• I hated his smoking. Did you know, at one point, he actually saved enough game tickets from his cigarette packs to buy a mountain bike with them? My favorite story is when he was my roommate. I owned the house, so I set the rules, and one was no smoking in the house. There was a flower pot on my deck that he would use to put out his butts. One night he had a smoke and then went up to his room. A few minutes later I saw flames flickering on my walls. The butts in the flower pot were on fire! Hilarious now…
• He once introduced himself to some new friends we met at the Foggy Goggle as a hairdresser.
• He loved his music and would drive his car with his knees while searching for the next song. Drove me crazy.
• His favorite jokes were: ‘I’ve known you since you were this tall’; ‘Your Indian name is Girl with Red Hair’ (or whatever); and the one that always put someone on the spot was when he would put his arm around you, approach a stranger, and say ‘have you met my friend Joe Nolan?’. Yes, I stole most of my material from him.
  • Like all of us, Rick went through a hair phase. For once I had the upper hand when someone mentioned he looked like Gerard Depardieu. I think that ended that. (sorry Rick, I had to throw that one in there) 



Photo from some Mardi Gras party. Shelley Goldberg hiding there







 







More Human than a Human

One of the most amazing things about Rick was even if things weren’t going so well, he always had a laugh for you. Most people know that side so I just wanted to share a few more things about him:

• He loved to read. We commonly shared and discussed books. Yes, Rick and I were our own book club.
• He also liked to go biking. I remember, every weekend, making him show me the map of our ride and plotting how to avoid the Ballston hills. Want a chili dog? Let’s bike to the Vienna Inn 10 miles away! He was so much faster than me (I blame the bikes) that it was common to find him just finishing his cig as I caught up to him standing on the side of the path waiting for me. 
• Rick strove for self improvement. Maybe inspired by Luisa. When things were on the downturn in our jobs Rick sought out a Life Counselor and stuck to the plan. He was able to change his career mid-life!
• He also loved to ski (snowboard? Now I can’t remember). 
• He was a PC (as in Windows Personal Computer) guy. He collected my old cast-off computer parts and made his own robots. (ok, I have no idea what he did with that stuff). But I believe he is the last person I know who had an AOL account.
• He shocked me when I first played softball with him. I didn’t realize he was actually pretty coordinated. He really loved the camaraderie more than the game, I believe. But, he played, and played well.
  
  

  

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• He loved Jeeps. When I searched for my first Jeep he found the perfect one for me. Of course, he scared the hell out of me when he drove it full speed around corners.
  
  
  (The Jeep picture in the snow is from a day Lu, Rick and I got to try out the 4-wheel drive and go sledding around Alexandria) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• He loved playing movie trivia. Hey Rick, when you speak of me to St. Pete, speak well. What movie is that from? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBUS3vQtDCA

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