Inside the White Picket Fence: Little Ricky D.

Happy Birthday Son....

We love you so very much.

Rick was the third of three children born in a mere 3 years ! He entered this world at a whopping 9 lbs. 3 oz. Rick was named after Rick Mount of the Purdue Basketball team. What is so funny about that is, that we are all IU fans. Rick Mount was a very good player, and Tom loved basketball. If having babies was as easy as it was delivering Rick, women everywhere would be having babies all the time. To my surprise, he wasn't the prettiest of my babies. When they showed him to me, I thought-- he looks like a frog ! I took him home, fattened him up, and he was the cutest little boy. He looked just like his Grandpa Wagoner.

This makes me think of my Dad when I look at it. Rick and Tom were watching the 1972 Olympics when I took this.

I know he is my son, but I tell ya, he was the cutest little fella. He was so easy going and still is. Everyone loved Little Ricky. He was a novelty, since there had been only girls in our family. He was a joy to have as a son until....kindergarten. He came home one day and "told" me he was going down the road to play with Timmy. Ummmm....no you are not. After some discussion, Rick stayed home and played. We didn't have any outburst like that again.

He was pretty gullible... here he is showing off his new birthday clothes. Rick looks like me in this picture when I was little. Little kids are so funny. He was the first grandson for my parents. Mom and Dad had 3 girls. I had had 2 girls before Rick was born. Everyone thought he was a novelty!

Tom and my Dad took Rick to get his first hair cut. He didn't like that at all. So I cut his hair from that day until the day he decided to wear his hair like his Grandpa Wagoner's. Needless to say he didn't like the barber. Look how thick (and how much) hair Tom has.....!

Looks like Rick isn't happy with Potty Training. I sure miss being a mommy. I loved every minute of motherhood. Rick was so much fun to raise. He was such a good little boy. Of course he had two older sisters that adored him and spoiled him. I remember one day they were all walking home from the bus. There they were, Rick in the middle of his sisters, and they each had their arms interlaced with his. Makes a mother so proud to have children so close.

There is some truth to the saying that boys are treated differently. Rick was allowed to get really dirty. He almost always had a smile on his face. He has those Grandpa Wagoner blue eyes. We used to call him Bruiser because he acted like Dick the Bruiser from WWF wrestling (something I really dislike).

Rick was never one to sit inside and watch TV. He was always busy. He loved playing with a rope slung over a branch of a tree. He would haul stuff up, and then let it down. He spent so much time in our trees. When we were able to keep a dog, Rick was outside playing with it. When he got a little older he moved to baseball cards. We had so many of those things,Tom built a box approx. 3'x5' to hold them. It was great having Rick as a son. He hardly ever caused me any problems. He just went with the flow. He is pretty much like that still. Which once again reminds me of my Dad. Easy going and lets you do your thing.

Rick with his Dad. As you can see, Rick was going through one of his growing spurts. He looks like he is all legs and no body. Tom was very active in sports. He really wanted the kids to be in sports too, but he didn't push them. Rick first became interested in baseball. Yes... I remember when you hit me in the knee with a fast ball......but then... Rick found....... basketball.

Rick looovvveeeddd basketball. He would practice in the morning, afternoon, evenings and inside when the sun went down. We built him (or was it for his Dad?) a basketball court in our backyard. Below Rick is busy painting the 3 point line. It is still on the cement to this day. Good painting Rick. Rick would run up and down our road dribbling the basketball. He played baseball and football in high school, but his love was basketball season.

This is what dedication looks like. Rick would shovel off the basketball court in the winter so he could shoot hoops when it wasn't snowing. I loved watching Rick do this. It gave me a chuckle, and one of those moments a mother holds in her heart. His dedication has carried itself into his adult life.

Do I need an explanation for this photo? Its winter.......basketball court is shoveled off....time for some hoops!Nothing unusual about a high school photo of your son in his baseball uniform. What is different, is Rick's Dad was his coach. Tom started coaching young boys when Rick was just a baby. He continued with our oldest daughter when she wanted to play, and into Rick's high school years. It is a little difficult to be the coaches son. Rick's graduation day from College.

Here we are on his graduation day. He took on his responsibility so well. It is always a proud time for a parent when your child is productive and a responsible person in today's society. We have people come up to us all the time telling us what a great person Rick is. We take credit for some of it, but I really believe Rick was destined to be the person he is. Rick became a christian in his teens. He has grown and matured into a wonderful man that we are very proud of. Rick met his wife, Jennifer, at college. She has beautiful brown eyes and she is a great fit for our family. They had a son, Spencer, that looked a lot like his dad when he was younger. They recently adopted a b e a u t i f u l little girl from China. Her name is Malia. Rick is a great family man. Exactly what he is supposed to be. We are so proud of him and the life he has created. Although I don't get to see him as often as I would like, he is happy. And still playing basketball.