By Rick Ryckeley
Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services

Dad used to say to me, "Never say never. When you say you'll never do something then that is exactly what you wind up doing."

One thing he said he would never do was to ever live at the beach. He told us that he lived in Florida on an army base for two years and would never do it again. Whenever we vacationed in Florida, all we ever heard was about that time he spent at the army base, how sand got into everything, and how he would never live in Florida again.

Dad has retired for some time now and lives in a condo in Panama City Beach, Fla. Never say never.

As far back as I can remember, we had a family dog, but it was never allowed in the house. If we tried to sneak the dog inside to play with it, Dad would always catch us and say, "All animals belong outside and people belong inside." (Guess that's why we did not go on camping trips when I was growing up.)

He said that dogs inside would have everything covered in hair and the first thing that people would smell when they came into the house would be the dog. "Dogs bring in fleas and ticks and track dirt through out the house," he used to say.

The only animal we had in the house was a white cat, but it did not last long with four boys. We never had any other animal inside the house when I was growing up. (Well, we did have a green parakeet that ate hushpuppies off of dad's head, but that is a story for Father's Day.)

When Dad moved to Florida, the first thing he did was to go out and buy two dogs. For the last ten years, he has had both dogs living inside of his condo. Snuggles and Cuddles are the cutest poodles you have ever seen. Never say never.

When I was young Mom was always telling me to clean up my room, turn my socks right side out, and make up my bed before coming down for breakfast. Mom also told me to never leave the house wearing dirty underwear. She said I needed to have clean underwear on in case I was to get into an accident. (I have transported many people to the hospital from fires, motor vehicles crashes, and their homes, and not once during the primary or secondary surveys have I checked for dirty underwear.)

As I said, "Yes, Mama," I would mumble to myself and promise that if I ever had kids they would never have to clean their rooms or turn socks right side out or make their beds. I told Mom that making up my bed seemed to be dumb and made no sense to me, 'cause you're going to be right back in it at bedtime anyway. She did not see my point of view, and when I got off of restriction for sassing her, I promised myself that my kids would never have to make up their beds.

Thirty-two years later, I tell my son before he leaves for school to make sure his room is clean, his socks are turned right side out before he throws them in the vicinity of the laundry room floor, and make sure to make up his bed. Never say never. (I'm fairly sure he wears clean underwear.)

When I was eight, my dad said it was a good idea to "get into the stock market." He helped us each to buy $500 of stock in a little local Georgia company. After a year of losing his money, he said that we would never make big money on the stock. We all sold our shares and bought different things for our rooms. I bought a quadraphonic stereo system that only worked correctly if you had music that was recorded in quadraphonic.

They stop recording music quadraphonicly two years later; the stereo lasted for four. Thirty-five years have gone by, and I think that our $500 of stock would have grown to over $950,000 (give or take a couple $100,000 or so). That little local company was Coca Cola, and Cokes were five cents a piece. Never say never.

When I went to the doctor ten years ago to get a vasectomy, he asked me if I was ever going to have any more children - if there were even a remote chance of additional little ones in my future. I told him, "I will never have additional children."

When my divorce was final many years ago, my friends all said that true happiness is hard to find and if it comes your way you'll never he able to hold on to it. I thought that I would never get married again or be able to find someone who would care for me as much as I cared for her. I knew that I would never find that special person who would love my son as her own and help me raise him the rest of the way.

I have been married for almost three years now, and I'm holding on as hard as I can. Never say never.

I will visit the doctor on Valentine's Day. I will have a three-hour operation. We're going to try to have children. I'll never say never again.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]

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