In our navies there are
many traditions, one of them is the “Sea-Daddy”. The Sea
Daddy is someone that either gets assigned to you or for whatever
reason attaches to you. Ray was my sea-daddy. In the years I knew
him I learned more about my job and about life than in the previous
20 odd years.
Ray was my mentor, my friend,
my confidant, my brother and my father all in one. There are very
few times in life when a man can find another that can fit all those
things, and I feel extremely lucky that he was part of my life for
the last 6 years.
He always knew what to
say to me, always. When I was down he always cheered me up, when I
made a mistake (and there were plenty of those) he always gave me
a swift kick in the rear and got me going in the right direction…followed
by a pat in the back and a quick word of encouragement. I am sure
I gave him plenty of excuses to be mad at me but he never held a grudge.
All in all, I am extremely
proud that Scouse was my Sea-Daddy, couldn't have asked for a better
one.
I have told many people
this, including the AHDC and Ronco, Ray was the reason our program
there was successful. Every time there was a problem it was Ray that
fixed it. Every time I got stuck in the field, it was Ray that came
to my rescue. Ray and I always played “good cop, bad cop”
with him always been the good guy, I wouldn’t have it any other
way. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that he was admired
and respected, both as a friend and co-worker, by everyone. I never
met anyone that had anything bad to say about Ray anywhere.
Luis
