Ralph's Story

When asked the difficult question of "How would you like to be remembered?" Ralph Lowen discusses the importance of love and his daughter and grandson.

Hengie: Anyways, so I asked you, how would you like to be remembered?

Ralph: And, oh, how would I like to be remembered? I've been thinking about that ever since we brought it up, and I still don't have an answer per se. What I was thinking was, I have a fun 5-month-old grandson, and, you know, initially, I you know, we weren't sure we were ever gonna be grandparents.

So, I was thinking, you know, how would I like him to remember me? Because, initially, I thought about things like, you know, where you're asking about eulogies or, you know, thing. That's I won't be there. You know? And what I'd like you know, if we're talking about that, is for people to do what they need to do to make themselves feel better.

But in thinking about my grandson, it doesn't really matter that he remembers me in some corporeal form, you know, like, the living flesh type thing. What I'd like him to remember is the love he got. The fact that, you know, he's truly loved. And I got this idea just this morning when I was watching my daughter on Zoom, with her son. And I marveled at the absolute joy and love she was both getting from him and giving to him.

I've seen my daughter happy in the past, but there is no comparison to how happy she is now. And to see this little 5 month old so happy and delighted and just, you know, wiggling and being able to lift his head and, you know, whatever 5 months old does for a smile. I think he's smiling, but, you know, that's just a happy grandpa. Those are the things that I think really count. It's, the ability to really feel loved.

You know, the kind of the power I'd like to see other people have to be able to live in that moment and appreciate everything around them. And that's what I want for my grandson. And, hopefully, from the joy and happiness I see on my daughter's face, I managed to pass a little of it on. So that's my story of how I would like to be remembered.