The Early Years

In case you've accidentally stumbled across this blog, let me introduce myself: Rick Bradford of San Francisco. Dennis Healy, my partner of the last 30 years, passed away Christmas Eve 2010. I've had friends suggest I start a blog, so this is my first attempt at having a go at it. I'll try to write chronologically as much as possible, but when looking back over more than 30 years, it's easy to mix up what we did on one trip versus what we did on another. We went to Hawaii about ten times if I count correctly, and about the only thing I can recall doing without mixing up when we did it is the amount of sex we had was always over the top whenever we were there. That was a very pleasant constant that could be counted on—each day, every day...mmm good.

Dennis and I met in October 1979 in Sterling Heights, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit). We worked for Central Transport, an over-the-road trucking company. I was in the Rate Dept. at the General Office; Dennis worked at the Dearborn terminal, but got transferred to Highway Dispatch, across the hall from the Rate Dept. We met shortly thereafter; I invited him to my Christmas party, he invited me to his apartment for a lasagna dinner (on New Year's Eve 1979). After his divorce became final, he could no longer afford his apartment, so I rented him the upstairs of my home in Warren (another suburb). We got to know each other during 1980 and became partners September 1, 1980.

We moved to San Francisco in March 1983, arriving on Sunday morning, the 20th. By the end of the first week, we had secured our first apartment, on Ashbury at Hayes in the Haight/Ashbury District. We shared that space with a friend from Detroit who had come to town before us. After about 15 months, we moved to an apartment of our own on Waller Street, one block back from Haight/Ashbury. When the rent got too high, we moved to Grove Street, but the area was too noisy and we stumbled across a great apartment at Hayes & Masonic. We stayed there for 10 years.

During this time, Dennis went through colon cancer (1994/95), but survived the surgery and removal of two-thirds of his colon. Also during this time, a friend of ours was dying from AIDS and I was his power of attorney. After his death, I received just under $50,000, which allowed us to buy our house that I still reside in.

That's a recap of our life. I'll start filling in more and try to keep this going. I'm still grieving his death, but can see the signs of my healing. As Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (the famous doctor who coined the phrase "Five Stages of Death") says in her book "On Grief and Grieving" - you never get over the loss, you learn to live with it. That's how I feel at the moment and will try to capture my feelings as I go through the grieving process.

If I end up with any followers, I hope you enjoy my stories as they unfold.

Rick Bradford