I will start out by saying that I have 6 siblings, 4 of which are older and are very much brothers and sisters, but at the same time, acted as a another set of parents to me.  It’s a unique family structure that I benefited from having a complete other set of parents that never got mad at me or had to discipline me, and brothers and sisters that I have never had an argument with.  They may see this differently because Donna and I were spoiled much more that the original Fab 4!

My oldest brother is Ricky, and because I have the privileges of being the baby of the family, I am the only one left that can call him that.  When I was adopted, my oldest brothers, “The Twins” shortly moved to Guelph to go to university.  I never actually remember living with them as they were away at school, but I do remember going in the basement and playing dress up in all their sport equipment.  The Twins were very athletic so there were football, baseball and endless hockey equipment to play dress up in.

After university, Ricky, and his wife Wendy, moved to Saskatchewan for his job with the Y. I remember Sunday night phone calls and listening to tape recordings of updates on family life. I think the biggest updates was the birth of the first grandchild, Tara. This made me an aunt at the age of 6! I can still remember mom and dad telling me and I was totally boggled as all my aunts were so much older. This led to me being a very young aunt to 12 other nieces and nephews that I was very close in age and developed unique relationships with them as well.

Rick and Wendy had the opportunity to move back to North Bay for Rick to resume the role of managing the Y there. I have lots of memories there, spending time going to work with him, perhaps molding what I spent my career in community recreation. I remember their next career move and being so excited when Wendy’s job with Bell brought them to Ottawa. This was amazing! We had so many more family dinners, celebrations of milestones together and got to see their daughters Tara and Tasha grow up.

Ricky had some very distinct traits, that I believe he got from my mom’s dad.  Not only did they look alike, but they also had the same quietness about them.  Not really heard so much, but their actions felt in whatever they were doing.  I did have the opportunity to harness his love of working with kids and providing learning and sport.  We ran a golf camp at Canterbury Recreation Complex to youth.  The program was amazing!  He taught skills on the arena slab that was outfitted with putting greens, nets with whiffle balls and other skill development areas.  On Fridays, we would take the group for a par 3 for the morning.  I can honestly say, this was a highlight of my career to work with him.  His integrity and wanting to make a difference made me so proud.

I also got to witness Rick go through an extremely difficult chapter in his life.  His childhood sweetheart, Wendy, died from a very painful illness.  He quietly went through his mourning, supported his children, and moved through the paces of life to try and find solace.  I was witness to grief that was new to our family as we have only said goodbye to those who had led a much longer life and not taken at such a young age.

I am proud to call Ricky my big brother.  He has spent a life mentoring, supporting, and always learning himself.  Now, he enjoys winters in Florida and summers here golfing with his new life partner, Line.  Line and Rick have 8 grandchildren that are blessed with much love, and the assurance that sport will always be a priority in their lives.