Showing the world

Lydia's thoughts a year later:

Saving the Scarecrow

October 2, 2009

I haven't posted to this blog in nearly a year. Nothing seemed all that worth posting after my post about Rick. It took me a long time to realize why he meant so very much to me. When I started working at the YSU Planetarium, I had just lost my job in the YSU theatre department. One could argue the reasons as to why I lost that job, but today none of that really matters. At the time I thought that theatre was my whole life, and losing a job in theatre, I felt like everything that I had been working for was lost. Working in the planetarium showed me just how much more to performing there was in the spectrum of things. I would never have seen any of that if it weren't for Rick.

My entire life changed direction in the time that I worked for Rick, and I don't know that I could ever really capture in words just how much I owe him. The night that Kate called me to tell me that Rick had first suffered his heart attack I began thinking about how I would show the world how much this man meant to me. Initially I thought I might get a tattoo of a scarecrow. Somewhere I have a picture of Rick dressed as a scarecrow for Halloween, and to this day it is one of the most enduring images I have of this man. Over time, the idea of a memorial sundial in honor of Rick began to take shape. It was then that I knew a tattoo of a sundial was the right tattoo. (yes, tattoo, I'm a permanent kind of gal) There is a very simple yet very beautiful sundial in the Forbidden City in Beijing that speaks to me. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that so far all of my tattoo's have been Chinese. My goal is to have this sundial represent the time of 10:15, the day Rick passed.

I just learned that the design for the Rick Pirko memorial sundial has been approved. I am hoping to get my hands on a picture of the design, as that would be beyond perfection for the tattoo I want. However, if I can't get that, the sundial I have chosen will work out just as well.

What makes the whole thing even more "right" is that I will be getting this tattoo the weekend that I attend a protest march, and see Kate and Tim. It feels like the weekend is designed by Rick...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Here is the sundial that tells the world about the impact of  Rick:

Memorial sundial update

We've received an update on the sundial being sculpted in Rick's memory. Warren Young from Physics and Astronomy at YSU: "The department and the artist Tony Armeni have agreed on the design and price of the sundial. The University has approved the design and location. Construction of it will begin soon. The target date for installing and dedicating the sundial is next spring, perhaps at the spring equinox. Although we are getting close to the required funds for the project we are still looking for additional contributions."

Those wishing to help may send a donation to:

Youngstown State University
Department of Physics and Astronomy
One University Plaza
Youngstown OH 44555

Tony sent along a few a pictures of the maquette (small scale model, rough draft), the sculpture will be about 9' tall and the armillary sundial will have a 32" diameter. Read more about armillary sundials here.

Love-giving

Came across this the other day in a photo album of Annie Wilson's, captioned "Rick loving on the airfield kitty", sometime before July 14, 2007