Postcards From the Lake: Celebrating Rick

Rick celebrated another circle (or cycle!) around the sun this past week. I'm a firm believer in celebrating birthdays -- sometimes it takes a lot to make it through a year and that life should be celebrated!

Greg came down from Petoskey to celebrate with us, and he was bearing gifts, all of which were lovely but several that were especially fun -- bicycle jerseys. Can you think of a more fitting gift?

And what made these special was that Greg designed them for the League of Michigan bicyclists. This one focused on a trip through Michigan's Upper Peninsula (MUP).

I love the detail of how leaves associated with the state's trees form a background. Here's a closeup.

Rick wore the sunniest of them all day!

And that day included a father and son kayaking spin around the lake. When they started I wasn't sure they'd make it without a collision!

But all was well. I love this picture of the two of them, off for a paddle.

In perfect synch!

Dinner, of course. I had picked up some steaks which Rick grilled.

They were accompanied by potato salad, corn salad and caprese salad..

And for dessert, cherry pie!

 

I am so lucky when I think that I have been able to spend the past 27 years with this guy, but we actually met 30 years ago when I was being evicted from my apartment (in which I'd been living for 16 years) because of my illegal cat, Stimpy. I wanted a bigger place to live, saw a duplex down the street I liked and thought the landlord seemed like a good guy. He lived on the other side, which is handy, and didn't seem to mind the cat. (Rick later says he saw "16 years" at my other place and thought I'd be a great tenant with longevity. He had no idea!)

Rick's duplex -- I almost moved in -- but I didn't.

 

 I ended up across the street but we were friendly neighbors and three years later, after I bought my house (and moved two blocks down the road) we started getting together. Who knew?

 

This was Rick on New Year's Day, 1996 -- the year we started moving beyond just friends.

Rick grew up in Toledo, the oldest of five boys and by the time he was 10, a single mom. That's him, holding the cat with several of his brothers.

He started cycling as a kid. This is one of his early bikes. He and his brother Tim often took off on bike hikes and when he got to college at Michigan State in the early 1970s, he found a group of cyclists and started riding and racing proper. 

 

He made it to the Nationals in both distance and track cycling, competing with guys who would later ride in events like the Tour de France and Olympics (and doing well against them). 

 

It was injuries from falls that stopped that career but you can take the boy out of biking (for awhile) but you can't take biking out of the boy! As you know, he rides to this day, avidly and with great distance. He's headed to Ottawa, Quebec and Massachusetts later this summer.

You may or may not know he was also instrumental in the founding of the Kal-Haven Trail, a rail trail from Kalamazoo to Grand Haven, Michigan. It took a lot of grit, bureaucracy and fundraising to get one of the state's premiere trails up and running and it remains popular today. He considers it his greatest accomplishment. (Now there are rail trails and other bike trails throughout the state.) 

 

The bridge on the Kal-Haven trail where we are to one day take what's left of him -- (but not soon)

When I met Rick he worked at Lansing's Chamber of Commerce, where he became their guy who worked to bring Japanese businesses to the state. He traveled there about seven times after his initial trip -- an accidental journey when he was asked to join a Rotary tour of the country. On many of those trips he took along one of the boys, his mom and even me! During those years and his time with the Japan-America Society, we made many friends from this beautiful country and had some wonderful experiences here and abroad.

Kyoto

But he wanted to do  his own thing and that was why he founded his company Geographic Insights, which does data analysis and mapping, often dealing with things like site selection for a business, though there are many other applications. Through that, and a series of serendipitous encounters, he created WellMagic, a software office management system for the groundwater industry. Thanks to that, I got to go to many of his trade shows in places like Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach and Massachusetts. (The trade shows weren't that interesting to me but we always had fun with the travel!)

One of the trade shows -- I was a helper. (Not that much help, I'm afraid!)

He has recently sold that part of his business to the National Groundwater Association and I suspect that as the transition nears and end he will have more time for practicing his classical guitar and -- wait for it -- 

Riding the bike!

I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I wouldn't have hung around for 27 years just because he rode a bike, took me fun places, is a great cook and better bread baker, or played guitar. Those are bonus points (and I'm not even sure they are all bonus points -- I get nervous every time he goes out on that bike!)

But he's always stuck by me and been the best partner and support a person could have. I'm not always easy to be around with my persistent cough and challenges. He's there for me every step of the way and at times he's had to put up with a lot -- things that I don't really write about here. He knows how to care and love and family matters tremendously. Family is important to both of us. I've been grateful that he has shared Kevin and Greg with me during their early years (and beyond). They were 7 and 9 when they came into my life and I think of them with all the love their dad and mom do. 

Our first Christmas together

The same goes for our grand guys. If the role of grandparents is to hang with the littles and just have fun, Rick is a master!

A lot of people think we're married. Heaven knows we've danced at enough weddings! We probably should be after more than two and a half decades, but we like our own space and we don't need he paperwork. We have paperwork for later years and know where to scatter the ashes and pull the plug and that our resources will pass on. That's good enough for now. (And one day, I'll move into the other side of the duplex and it will be full circle and we'll take care of each other till we can't!)

I don't know why I'm writing this now -- I should wait till he turns 70 or 75! One of those milestone birthdays. Except we all know what can happen to cyclists. (Or, I suppose, anyone!) so "do it now!"

So, Happy Birthday, Rick. Here's to looking ahead...

...and many more celebrations and more years of fun for us both!