Ricky Roy Blankenship

 

If you recognize the name then you just know.  If you don’t then I would dare to say your life is a smile and a laugh or two short.

I met Ricky one day riding my bike home from Havenview School.  He was working on his bike in the driveway and I said hello and for the next 65 years we were best friends.  You have heard about that friend that knows where the bodies are buried.  Well Ricky helped me bury a bunch of those bodies.

He went to St. Paul elementary.  I went to Havenview.  Then we both went to Whitehaven High School and that my friend is where all the trouble started!!!  Ricky’s father, Googie, drove the bus we rode to school.  He was a riot.  About as tall as he was big around he was just simply a hilarious man.  I got to know Googie and Bobbie Fay his Mom over the years an unusual pair for sure.

Ricky was the best man at my first wedding.  He was a major part of a night that will remain in one of the craziest of my life my Bachelor party.  Which it took about a month to recovery from.  Another story for another time.  Let’s just say my new bride didn’t speak t him for many, many months!!

He was always there for me. Good times and Bad always right there. I could pass on many examples but that’s not the reason for this writing.

You see I lost my best friend yesterday and I needed to let folks know the world lost a good guy.  Yes, he was strange.  He loved burnt bacon and steaks.  I never understood that until I had a taste of his Moms cooking if you could call it that.  WOW!!  He also was hard headed. He loved his wife and family more than anything else in the world.  He told me that many times as we talked about this and that.  He loved the Memphis Tigers. He loved to talk to his buddy Goose during all of the games.  I was always out being” social” as he called it.   He also loved to play golf back in the day and we would all go on these crazy golf trips down to the gulf coast. Lot’s of memories there as well.

Well if you knew him there is a good chance you either loved him or did not care for him.  That never bothered him at all.  You see Ricky was Ricky and that is what made me love him.

Rest in peace my friend.  You will be missed, but never forgotten.

 

Peace,

The Blessed Man