Dr. Rick Toracinta

Rick was in my life for the last 20 years of his life and taught me the true meaning of having a son.

Memories From Grad School

Rick and I finished grad school at Texas A&M at the same time, working on similar topics.  We both probably took it too seriously most of the time, and had to help each other keep some sense of perspective instead of stressing out.  At one point Rick suggested we should make a point of going out to dinner every once in a while, to get away from the office and discuss our work (or to discuss everything except work!) in a relaxed, stress-free setting.  So we chose a bar-and-grill called Fox & Hound.  We didn't schedule these outings, but the first few times all had the same thing happen.  Some deejay from a local radio station would show up, with announcements blaring about "Working Women's Wednesday".  It was annoying at first, but became a fun running joke for us.  When the stress built up at work, we would take a break and celebrate Working Women's Wednesday (no matter what day it was).  Even after graduating and moving on (Rick to Ohio, me to Alabama), we would still sometimes trade emails about needing to take a break and honor Working Women's Wednesday!  So on behalf of Rick and myself, here's to the working women out there!  It sounds stupid, but that kind of thing really helped us get each other through that last year or so of school

A Special Angel

Rick, Each day a special child is born. Jesus loans them to us to love & hold. You were one of those children. Now you are a special Angel!! Just wish he could have waited longer before choosing you.

A Bridge Called Love

It takes us back to brighter years,
to happier sunlit days and to precious
moments that will be with us always.

And these fond recollections
are treasured in the heart
to bring us always close to those
from whom we had to part.

There is a bridge of memories
from earth to Heaven above.
It keeps our dear ones near us,
it's the bridge that we call love.

Rick Toracinta Goes Home

22 November 2005

Rick (Ernest Richard, but don't call him that!) Toracinta was a friend to St. Mary's for many years, and yes, he and Monica were engaged and almost married. He discerned about a week before the wedding that it was not time, and anguished over that discernment for a long time - not that the decision was anything but right, but at the pain it caused. Only his faith in the God who had led him to that decision helped him through the years that followed it.

Rick was a good friend to me and had started at St. Mary's what was called Aggie Challenge, a weekly gathering on Wednesdays that explored the mass readings of the week over lunch. We were a small group that met outside of the old student center, or inside if the weather didn't cooperate and we could fins a place that didn't drip on us. Rick was an avid cyclist and tornado chaser, and he was more than just a passing astronomer. I remember sharing his stories of storm chasing and him taking my wife and me out to watch meteor showers.

Rick always listened, and he always shared what God placed on his heart. He was honest and didn't pull punches, and he was one of the few people who could pumch you with a velvet glove - he could sock you n the eye and kiss you at the same time, and you knew you needed to thank him each time he spoke with you.

His hugs were huge, and you were safe in his arms. His presence was enough to quiet a room if it was needed, and it was enough to covet the corner he chose to stand in while others got the limelight - a limelight he was sure to make sure you got while he was content to stand in your shadow.

Rick was an active member of the St. Mary's RCIA team, and he was, with Andy McDavid, perhaps the best Catechist St. mary's ever had. He served RCIA under Elizabeth Thaibinh & Monica Ashour, and was gracious enough to read at my wedding and ask me to attend at his.

Rick showed me the power and grace that accompanied vigil with the Blessed Sacrament. He asked me to join him in signing up at St. Joseph's in Bryan before St. Mary's had adoration, and he and I signed up for the 1AM Tuesday slot. He would pick me up at 12:45 every Tuesday Morning, and we would spend the ride up talking about the week, and the ride back sharing our joy in The Lord...riding in his little white Honda with the rosary hanging from the rear-view mirror. Sometimes we would do a rosary on the way up or back, but we always had adoration in silence. I would marvel at his peace, and the calm that Rick had even when the weight of the world was on his shoulders...becaue he was in the Presence of Our lord. I kept that vigil slot for a year after Rick moved away, and I'm still first on the call list when overnight substitutes are needed. Rick taught me that it wasn't a thing that needed doing - it was an honor to be called and answer "Here." I have witnessed several personal miracles as a result of Adoration - and Rick introduced me to that Gift.

How do you summarrize a life like Rick's in so few words, without spending your life reciting it? I don't know. Every tear is a chapter, and his book will fill oceans before we have wept ourselves to an appropriate denouement. I can only think that he and Zack Barcevac are telling us, right now, that everything they have taught us is true - if only we have the heart to listen.

I am ecstatic for Rick. And sad for myself. Selfishly, I know. He was the wind beneath my wings: seldom seen, rarely acknowledged, and drastically essential to soaring with eagles. He taught me to see the Lord in everything, and that a miracle was a close as the nearest tree ("Can YOU make one of those, Kristofer?"). He and Monica taight Beth & me how to play Bridge, and he busted his chin to the point of needing stitches, just to show me how to roller blade and how to fall appropriately when doing so! The only time I know Rick missed RCIA was when he called me to tell me he had been riding past my house when he saw my dog get hit by a car, and he stayed with her until I could rush home to be there to find her coughing up blood in his arms. He always cared for Myranda without hesitation when we left town.

Rick was an honest, skeptical scientist. Eager to the point of urgency in learning new things, and always able to see the awesome power of God in everything from the Big Bang to the conception of a child. Rick could prove things scientifically that the most fervent atheist (which I was before i met Rick) could only stumble thorugh, because he had the confidence that God was the creator and He had natural mysteries that He WANTED us to solve.

Rick was from Lowell, Massachusetts; at least that's where he hailed from when he came to Aggieland. I met Rick's Mom once when she visited here in College Station, and at that time she was a skeptical non-believer. She will need our prayers to understand this event in Rick's Life.

Rick's stop in College Statin in the pursuit of his dream left a mark on our comunity that even those who now pass it on may not know thay are doing so. That is greatness unequalled. When you share a part of your life that came out of St. Mary's, you are passing on Rick Toracinta. St. Mary's was never the same once Rick crossed the threshold, and what you share of it bares some of him in that sharing.

Rick is resting in the bosom of The Lord right now. I know this more than I know anything else.

I am grateful for the gift of Rick. God has truly been altruistic in His giving of this man to us, and I cannot fault Him for wanting Rick Home.

I do, too.

What I would give for one more baloney sandwich with Rick across the picnic table from me, reading another verse of scripture and sharing his thoughts about it, and why God put it right there at that very moment for us to explore.

I can't wait to see him again. My friend. My Brother