"Apple doesn't fall too far from the Tree"
Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads,
This is In memory of my father Ralph J. Keller…
“It’s not what you leave your children… it’s how you leave them” Milton S. Hershey
I grew up in the small town of Hershey. I was known as Ralph Keller’s son and that was special…
I could go on for days and days about my family, both good and bad, but it’s the past. I’m fortunate in many ways and I’ll always “give back” because of my “upbringing”. Everyday for me is a Gift so everything, literally, everything I do is for others. You see I paid attention and learned from my Dad, what to do and what not to do. He wasn't perfect, far from it, but he made up for that by going far above “the call of duty” in both his Professions (Hockey and yes… Hairstyling) and in Life. Everyone looked up to this Guy. Especially me.
You see my Dad, no matter how tough he was on me, just kept teaching me. No matter how I received it he kept teaching me. No matter how I fought it he never gave up. That’s me now. And in the end it’s just how Milton Hershey said… “it’s not what you leave your children…it’s how you leave them.
My Father suffered from head injuries and had his nose broken 8 times. Even being one of the smartest and toughest guys in Hockey, being the first to wear a helmet, Ralph suffered many injuries. You know the common kitchen towel? Yea that white towel we use to clean or pull hot items out of an oven? Well When his nose was broken they’d cut up the side of his nose so they could stuff one of those towels up there to keep it from bleeding. No joke. I’d hear him trying to sleep and trying to breath through his mouth. Just Brutal.
Loosing my Dad was not a pretty sight. Seeing your father, your Mentor and an extremely talented, tough guy on his death bed in The Hershey Medical Center is ironic. He gave a lot to the town and 14 years with The Bears was not easy work. He loved it all as he loved Hershey. Ralph’s final blow was a simple surgery at Hershey Medical Center that went wrong. He was to have his jaw cleaned up because of an infection and during that procedure he had a heart attack and then septic set in. Blood poisoning in a Medical Center is hard to understand. That whole thing happening, after all he did for Hershey, is hard to understand. It’s hard for me not to think back of the time in the 70’s when he put change in a vending machine in Hersheypark Arena, picked a cup of hot soup, and just hot water came out. He looked at me and laughed.
2018 was a rough year for me. The worst year I've ever had. I Lost my Dad and lost the sense of anything mattered. I was in a “Fog”. I couldn’t think clearly and I was Numb. It took a long time to get back on my feet, I found out who my friends were and I was as surprised that I had that hard of a time. I knew it would be hard losing my Dad but never in a million years did I expect to feel the way I did. You see my Dad called me Rick for at least 10 years, My older Brother’s name, but that made no difference in my Loss. It was devastating.
Thank you Dad for leaving me in a good place. I’m back.
Here are two links on me, my Father and My Father’s passing in The Capital’s Magazine.
So thanks for following and taking the time to read this. This was for me. To finally let go.
Yours truly,
Chef Keller
I will smile through all that tears a whole in me. I know no other way. I can only give my heart and my best and I’m living a dream.