rick 00 cover-1:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:55 PM Page 1 rick 00 i -x:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:59 PM Page ii Copyright © 2005 Hedy Pieramico Published by Reivers Press 3553 Eugene Place San Diego, CA 92116 Phone 619/584-1841 [email protected] Printed by BookMasters, Inc. 2541 Ashland Road P.O. Box 2139 Mansfield, OH 44905 Phone 800/537-6727 ISBN-13: 978-0-9640600-2-9 ISBN-10: 0-9640600-2-7 rick 00 i -x:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:59 PM Page iii rick 00 i -x:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:59 PM Page v Special Thanks... I want to give a special thanks to so many people. To my son Neil and daughter Lisa for understanding why I had to write this book and for never doubting I could do it. An extra thanks to Neil for reading through the book before publication to help ensure I hadn’t said anything about Rick he wouldn’t want printed or used any of his words he wouldn’t want other people to see. To my partner Roger Dooley who helped me master Microsoft Word and was always patient when I would complain that the computer did something stupid, and not point out who really did the stupid thing. Who showed me the same things over and over and sat in the family room day after day with his laptop on his lap so I could use the computer in his office. I’m especially thankful for his scanning so many of the photographs used in this book. To my Editor Fielding “Mac” McGehee who made this all possible, from the first idea to compile this memory book to the finished product. For letting me know it was possible and for showing me the way. You have made this mother’s life happier. Rick’s Godfather’s name is Mac and now mine is too. To those of you who shared pictures with me. Each picture that I had never seen was like a gift. When someone you love dies, you are left with the pictures you have accumulated in their lifetime. I thought I would never have a new picture of Rick. To get new ones – new to me – was such a joy. An extra, extra special thanks to everyone who contributed memories. I couldn’t have done this without you. I’ve gotten to know my son better through the memories you have shared. To my friends who kept hearing about “Rick’s book” and never asked “when?” To my dear friend Julie Burham who, while not contributing memories to this book, con- tributes much to my life by tending to Rick’s gravesite for me. Most of all to Rick, for living a life packed full of such joy and caring and generosity, that a book could be written chock full of so many memories from such a short time on this earth. Hedy Pieramico rick 00 i -x:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:59 PM Page vii Introducing Rick... Some of you who read this book will have known Rick all his life, but some of you only knew him for a portion of it. Perhaps you were high school friends who lost touch. Maybe you knew him through the X-Cats. Some of you are old neighbors or friends from Compassionate Friends. Many of you are co-workers who knew him during his Xerox years. To make it easier to read the book, a chronology of sorts is in order. Rick Eric Pieramico was born on November 19, 1959 to Emanuel (Neil) Pieramico and Hedy Sult Pieramico. Both parents had lived in East Rochester, New York their whole lives and considered it a great place to live and raise children. East Rochester is a village in western New York State, eight miles out- side Rochester, which is on Lake Ontario and near the Canadian border. They bought their first house at 129 Bluff Drive in 1958 and their first son Neil Francis Pieramico was born there on November 23 that same year. Rick was born four days less than a year later. Yes, they did figure out what was causing that. Five years later, Lisa Lynn Pieramico was born on March 11, 1965, a perfect finish to an already nearly perfect family. In 1967, the family purchased a house at 249 W. Spruce Street in East Rochester. This put them within walking dis- tance of both sets of grandparents, various aunts and uncles, and both the grade school and high school. Rick’s school years were happy ones, and he had a large circle of friends, many of whom you will hear from in this book. Although Rick’s dad and I separated in 1971, Rick often told the story of the time one of his teachers asked him to speak to a classmate since, as she said, “You know first hand the pain of being from a divorced family.” He told her that his mom and dad had worked very hard to ensure there was as little pain as possible for their kids, and as far as he was concerned they had succeeded. Thus he didn’t feel he had many insights to share. Although the kids lived with me, their dad lived nearby and was always available to his children. He remarried in 1976 and Rick got a rick 00 i -x:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:59 PM Page viii viii Remembering Rick new brother and sister in the next several years, Paul in 1976 and Pepe in 1979. Rick graduated from high school in 1977 and left home for a four-year deployment with the Air Force in the spring of 1978. He spent his boot camp days at Lackland AFB in Texas, his tech school months at Shepard AFB, also in Texas, and the remaining years at Castle AFB in Merced, California. You will get a chance to hear about his Air Force days from Rick. I’ve printed all the letters he sent to his high school girlfriend Sherry Griffin Fiero and to me. I think you will enjoy reading Rick’s own words. You’ll hear from Sherry too about her memories of Rick. Rick was dis- charged in 1982 and spent a year and a half at home before moving into an apartment with his cousin, Steve Pieramico, on Bobrich Drive in Webster, New York. In 1984 I decided on a big adventure and moved to San Diego, California to work in a new start up facility for Xerox with my partner Roger Dooley. Since I wasn’t really much of an adventurer, I decided not to sell my house and instead rented it to Rick and Steve. While living in the family home on Spruce Street, Rick dated a girl by the name of Debbie Burham, who also contributed her memo- ries to this book. In 1988 I did sell the house and Rick moved into the Creek Hill Apartments, at 1714 Empire Boulevard in Webster, where he remained for the rest of his life. His stepmother Debbie’s parents bought a bar/motel called the Denonville Inn right next door, and she and his dad moved into a house on that property. You will read many references to the Denonville. His brother Neil moved to San Diego in the fall of 1985 and his sister Lisa followed in 1988. Rick was never interested in living anywhere except the Rochester area where his extended family and friends resided. He loved his nieces and nephews who were born in the years to follow: Neil’s children, Allie, Curtis, Erica and Garrett Pieramico; Lisa’s kids, Laney and Cooper Ludwin; and Pepe’s sons Skyler Pieramico and Ashtyn Carr-Pieramico. They are the primary reason for this book. Since they didn’t have their uncle Rick in their lives for very long, I wanted to make sure they got to know him better and would never forget him. After the service, Rick worked a couple of different jobs but ended up being hired by Xerox in 1984 in the graphic arts department The graphic arts and computers became Rick’s passion, and not just any computer but the Macintosh, at which he became expert. He stayed with this group as a technical illustrator until 1998 when he moved to the Color Studio. Rick was one of the few people who are lucky enough to make their living doing something they love. It showed, and his years with Xerox are chronicled by his co-workers who speak of him in glowing terms. During his later years in the art department, he dated a girl named Kris Burkovich. You will read her name mostly in association with the X-Cats, rick 00 i -x:Layout 1 9/29/2007 2:59 PM Page ix The Music of His Life ix a group of kids they both worked with and were dedicated to. A man defines himself by the way he spends his life, and helping people seemed to be how Rick spent much of his. He was always champion for the underdog. Music was also a big part of Rick’s life. He started playing the trumpet in junior high, played in the junior and senior high school bands and continued to play in the Drum and Bugle Corps in boot camp. He learned guitar about the same time and played it for the rest of his life, mostly making music with his cousins George, Steve and Audrey.