Monday, Jan 31^st was Dick Rauh’s 97^th birthday. He shared a few moments from his busy day to give us a little insight and wisdom. Dick and his wife joined the Y in 1978. They enjoyed being part of the Y community. Dick enjoyed racquet ball and his wife swam and took classes. They formed friendships and bonds that showed themselves in ways they never could have predicted. When Mr. Rauh’s wife started to show signs of dementia, this group, this community, this family, stepped in when it was needed. They weren’t asked, they weren’t told, but they lifted and supported the people who needed it. Mr. Rauh credits all of this with keeping his wife going for years, even when her health clearly showed signs of worsening.

At 97, Dick Rauh still seems as busy as ever. He is a dynamic teacher, teaching art at the senior center. Showing his students that drawing and seeing is not simply observing a 3 dimensional object. While he helps his students learn to see, understand and draw flowers, I suspect, he imparts a whole new way to see everything they observe. He teaches the science of flowers on-line for the New York Botanical Gardens. Dick also loves writing and spending time with his writing group. He is surrounded by his family and feels he is so lucky.

Clearly Mr. Rauh doesn’t slow down. He keeps moving and he feels that is so important. He feels the YMCA has allowed him to do that. He loves the community and feels the Y has been a consistent part of his life. His advice to people is to, ‘be kind. Be considerate of other people and do as well as you can, even if you aren’t the best. Just do it as best as you can.’

We are sure that everyone will join us in wishing Dick the happiest of 97^th birthdays. He says he is lucky but I think we make our own luck and in the few minutes that I met this legend of a man, I could see that his kindness and passion of all he does is what has brought him to where he is.