This page is in honor of one of the best friends I have ever known, and one who was my own Brother.
You will find that until the end, it is simply made, just like Ricky was. Ricky was born on 05 February 1966. He didn't become my brother until I entered his home as a foster child. I knew his family before they became my foster family, so we had always thought of each other as brother and sister. He was so full of life, but not without it's troubles. He was intelligent, funny and honest. He never hid what he was feeling or what he was thinking. He believed life was to be experienced. He had his share of problems, but don't we all?
Ricky was someone who I turned to when it seemed no one else wanted to listen, and he turned to me for the same support. Our friendship and our bond as brother and sister only strengthened as we got older. Ricky discovered that he had Cancer while in the Army in Germany. My heart bled for him. I knew it would destroy his spirit, and his body, until he would not be able to care for himself. Ricky was never one to lean on others to get what he needed. He believed if he could not do for himself, then he had no right to think anyone else should do for him.
That was in 1987. The cancer struck with a vengence. For the next few years, he was in and out of the Veteran's Hospital, for treatments. His body slowly weakened, and his muscular shape began to deteriorate. By late 1989, he was so week, that getting around was difficult. At easter in 1990, he was in a wheelchair, unable to hold his own body weight. By June of 1990, he was permanently in the hospital. He continued to weaken, but his spirit stayed strong. Ricky had a strong faith in God, and his prayers were constant. He never failed to keep his sense of humor, and often, when one of us would start to get down, he would find a way to make us laugh. He didn't want this to bring us down. He even wanted us to throw a party when he died, so that we could celebrate the fact that he was home with his Heavenly Father.
He was once a vibrant and outgoing individual, and in his last days, no one could recognize him. He had gone from over 200lbs to a mere 78lbs due to this disease.
On July 14, 1990, at the tender age of twenty-four, Richard Carl Moore passed from this earth into his Eden with God.
I never had the chance to tell him that his niece that I was carrying was due on his twenty-fifth birthday, but I think he knew. I was two and a half months pregnant with her when he passed. Ricky had a sense about those things, so I think he knew. I also believe that he still watches over me, everday, and her. You see, I believe in Angels, and I know that He is one of the ones who watch over me.
It's funny, how people leave marks upon our hearts that cannot be erased. He left so many on mine, and I am grateful that he was my brother, and my best friend. Every time I go to the beach, I think of him, for that was his favorite place. And while watching the sunset on a perfect ocean in the early dusk, I can feel him next to me, holding me to him with a smile on his face. A smile I can never forget, a smile I will ALWAYS REMEMBER.
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