Nancy Snyder
In preparation for Ralph’s Celebration of Life event this Saturday, April 23, 2016, I wanted to take a few moments and think back on my range of memories of Ralph and share a few things for this memorial web page.
Ralph was my grandmother’s sister’s son and my mom’s first cousin. I think she was about seven years older than him so about by the time she settled down and started having children, Ralph was headed off for a stint in the army. Then not too long after that he got married and eventually moved to Maryland and had children who lived to far away to get to see very often. Consequently my childhood memories of him are a little thin. My first strong memory related to him was going to his first wife Miriam’s college graduation. It was the first time I ever heard the melody, Pomp and Circumstance, and for some reason I never forgot the tune and it has forever reminded me of that day. I remember admiring Miriam and thinking she was so beautiful with her striking dark hair, tall stature and pretty features. I thought they made an awesome and very likable couple. According to family photos I also went to their wedding when I was five but I really don’t remember that. Other childhood memories consisted mostly of seeing photos of him at his mother’s house in Auburn, NY when she would baby sit me and my sisters. From that experience I suspect he was raised on a substantial dose of love and kindness, dominoes, Scrabble, music outings at the local park’s band shell, and 78 rpm Victrola records.
Eventually we moved to Florida and every now and then he’d bring his family down for a vacation or we’d stop by Maryland on our vacations back up north. It was always a fun time when my cousins Alan and Lisa came along and he’d generously include us in many of the fun things they thought up to do on their vacation. Several years later I witnessed another especially touching instance of his and Miriam’s kindness and generosity when I stopped in for a visit during a hitchhiking trip and they bought me a ticket to my next destination so I could be sure to get there safely. Wow, I was so touched.
Sometime not long after that I remember hearing tales of him being involved in computers with his job. If I remember correctly he had some kind of setup where he could be in Europe on business and somehow deliver instant communications to his home in Maryland. It seemed so amazing that such a thing was possible. I thought of him as a brainy computer whiz. Little did I know that the computer capabilities were a sign of things to come and thanks to computers our families have been able to easily keep in touch over the years. I got to know of his love for boats and his love of his home on the lake as well as some of his challenges and joys and have benefited from the efforts he put in to documenting and sharing many of our family photos. Following his lead I’m looking through some old family photos tonight and I think I’ll share a few from our old albums.
In closing I want to say my goodbyes to you Ralph and wish you a wonderful journey back to meet your creator and to whatever wonders lie beyond this life. I truly hope we can meet again.
- Nancy Snyder