Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Ralph, known as "Junior" in our younger years, was my first cousin, the son of my Mom's sister Ida. He worked for my Dad in the early years of our lives, as did many of my cousins, at the Brooklyn "Bay Ridge Plastic Tile Company" (strangely, it had nothing to do with plastic tile). All the young guys learned a lot about contracting, fencing, installation, demo & honed their work skills under the mentoring of Uncles Dom & Frank. Many nights when the boys checked out at Crawford Ave., they were often tempted by the sight & smells of Aunt Jennie's kitchen. There was always room for one more. I was a lucky girl because having no brothers, I enjoyed the company of my cousins & their friends.There were always funny stories about their day & Ralph's storytelling skills kept us in stitches many a time. I remember the first time he brought Jean to the house to meet the family.. She was so nervous & he was so proud. Jean was a pretty thing who obviously was smitten by my seriously cool as a cucumber cousin.
I think she remained smitten all the years they spent together, through thick & thin, & for the most part, he remained thoughtful, cool & calm. He took his job as husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, nephew, cousin etc. in earnest, always considerate & kind. He never forgot to check in on my Mom, see her when she was sick or well, take her to dinner. She loved to have him & Jean visit. I will never forget his kindness & caring... and... well, "long story, short" , I loved him very much & will be missing him.
