This is Ralph. He never told me his last name. It is not really HIM but he looked just like this guy, hat and all. Ralph lived in Lexington, Kentucky when I was in graduate school. He would hang out on the street corner and wait for me to walk to school on Wednesdays. He would stop me and chat for 5 minutes or so and then send me on my way. We always used to meet at the race track betting the ponies and he would bum bus fare from me to get back to town when he went "tap city" for the day. Ralph taught me one of the greatest lessons of life. One day he just came out and said "Listen here, if you ain't humble, then you better get humble, because one way or another life is gonna make you humble."
Read that again, and file it under words to live by. I don't know that there is a person in the Randy Parker Hall of Fame with a higher ranking than Ralph. When I was around him he was about 75 in 1984. I am sure he is no longer with us. But I will never forget him and what he taught me. Thanks Ralph and say hi to Jackie Robinson for me.
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