By Sandy Aldrich

I was first introduced to Raymond in a hospital room at the University of Michigan while I was in college. I believe I brought him an arrangement of irises and was eager to make a good impression. You see, Ray and I had just started to date and I had heard all about "Big Raymond" so I knew how important he was to Ray. Raymond greeted me with a warm smile and since that very first meeting he has made such a lasting impression on me. Every encounter, regardless of the time that had passed, was met with the same smile and warm embrace. Raymond was always eager to hear about all my new career adventures and even tolerated my "kid" stories after our children were born. Although our youngest child (pictured with Raymond and Grandpa Bob at Thanksgiving) will not remember Raymond, when we share this picture with her we will pass along our Raymond stories so she will know what a special person he was to us all.