Today my cousin Vicky called me at 7am. She knew I’d be awake and I was. She told me that Lefty had passed away. Well she said that “pap” had passed away. He was her father-in-law and obviously her kids, Aaron, Autumn, and Avi’s grandfather, and her husband Scott’s father.
Richard “Lefty” Adams was 79 years old and would have been 80 in August. He was Chief of Police for Duquesne Police Department from 1996 until he retired in 2016 with over 50 years of serving the badge.
I remember when I was a kid and Vicky taking me to the huge in-ground pool that Lefty and his wife Judy had in their back yard. And then I think about when Vicky’s kids came along and the countless birthday parties and barbecues that we had next to that huge in-ground pool.
A place for family, friends, celebration, summer fun, and carefree days bathing in the sun.
Ya know, when I think about it and how things change–often in ways we don’t want them to change–I just imagine the soft ripples of the water and bright sun bouncing off the surface of that huge in-ground pool. A place of calm. A place of peace. And I think it was a truly special place for Lefty Adams.
I also remember being at one of Aaron’s high school basketball games and seeing Lefty there with the rest of the family. He was always going to his grandkids sports events and he had a lot of grandkids that played a lot of sports.
Lefty was a man that truly showed what it meant to keep your family first.
And what a wonderful lesson that is for me now to look back on when I have my own son just two months from coming into the world. Lefty even came to one of my band’s shows when we were still playing. That night I smashed my face on the bass player’s instrument and was bleeding everywhere in mid-song. Now let me remind you that I was singing in a heavy metal band, screaming, and jumping around like a maniac. And I was, at least that night, bleeding from my face. Lefty came up to me after the show with enthusiasm and encouragement to keep going after my dream because I was good at it.
I know that all those close to Lefty are hurting right now and hurting bad. There’s no words that can be written to take away that pain and to be honest, there shouldn’t be. It hurts and will hurt because the love that Lefty brought to all his family is a love that you want to experience and feel every day first-hand from the person that brought it to you. This will hurt and that’s ok but the most beautiful thing of all is that that kind of love is one that goes on forever and permeates every life that it touched. Lefty, the man, may not be here with us right now, but his love… his love always is and always will be.
I came to know Lefty Adams as Pap. And he’s shown me beautiful lessons that I will take into becoming a father to my little boy.
Rest easy Pap and thanks for letting us all swim.
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