Page 52 - 1995 Wardlaw Hartridge

William C. Ricci
InMemoryofa Wrestler
by Alex Miller
I was a close friend of Bill's and knew him since the fifth grade. Bill had been a student at W -H since kindergarten, w ith the exception of sixth and seventh grade, w hen he w ent to an­ other school. But Bill was not happy there and in eighth grade he returned to Wardlaw. We were pleased by his return. But then on a snow covered Wednesday in January 1994 we went to school only to learn of the tragic death of a friend. Bill was dead at the age of sixteen.
Bill was the greatest person I have ever met and probably will ever meet. In all the times I saw Bill he was always laughing and never was a smile absent from his face. He would laugh so hard, with his big belly laughs, his face would turn bright red. Bill was the kind of person who would laugh at just about anything. No matter what went wrong his laughter would always shine through. It was that laughter I looked forward to hearing everyday at lunch time and during homeroom. I can recall many times in which I would be miserable and somehow Bill would make me forget my misery. School doesn't feel the same without Bill's laughter. Never, for one second, did I think he would be the first of us to die.
Patrick Geisz, Mitchell Brenner, Ellen Wilson, Sarah Bashe and I were a few of Bill's closest lunch and never failed to have a good time.
friends. It was this group that sat together at
Unfortunately this group, like Bill himself, never reached its full potential. This was going to change, or so we thought, as soon as we reached the age of seventeen and could drive legally. Bill and Iwould often talk of the future when we would be able to drive. Maybe then the distance would no longer separate our group of friends. But as they say, "The best laid schemes of mice and men
___ " When the time came that Ellen got her license and Pat's car was insured Bill was not there to join in the celebration. With only four month's before Bill was to receive his own driver's license he was dead.
Bill and I had been on the same wrestling team since eighth grade. After Bill's death whenever I thought of wrestling I thought of him. As a result of this I had trouble wrestling or simply even being in the wrestling room. For me there are too many ghosts in that room right now. Bill's death occurred right in the middle of wrestling season. For some reason I thought I would be doing his spirit a favor by dedicating the rest of my season to him. I now realize this was a mistake because in my heart I feel I let him down by having such a miserable and disappointing season. Late in the season this feeling ate away at me internally, and I spent less and less time there. I either wanted to have Bill alive or forget him completely. But I now realize I can't bring him back but I can keep his memory alive, and that is the main reason I am writing this article, even though it is the most painful thing I have ever done. For those of you w ho didn't know Bill here is an opportunity to learn about him. For those of you who did know Bill here is a chance to see him as I knew him.
Bill was a wrestler in every sense of the word and now I, along with everyone else who cared about him, must wrestle with his death. Bill, wherever you are, pal, I hope you have found peace and I want you to know that you touched the lives of everyone you ever met. I also want you to know I, along with Pat, Mitch, Ellen, Sarah, Ian, and Kwesi, love you and miss you.