If Richard Gorski were to be remembered in just three words, what would those words be?

Spontaneous?

Hilarious?

Lovable?

But spontaneous, hilarious, and lovable do not alone convey the experience of Richard.

To convey my experience I would add:

Mortal; Playful;

and

Dramatic;

Mortal because: One of the reasons why we are here today is to honor recollect and celebrate, that which we remember what was mortal of Richard.

Playful because: Richard emulated his mother Virginia, and became a warm individual who loved to play and who held playfulness as a high priority.

And dramatic because: Richard grew up conversing in a dramatic banter. His words were often intended for audiences. He talked this way subconsciously, and from as early as I can remember, our conversations could have been scripts and screen plays. Hundreds of unpublished works.

With almost every interaction between ourselves and others, there was a certain element of drama. With every conversation, Richard refined his language, and cultivated an unforgettable day to day persona, the loss over which I am now grieving, and the life which we are now celebrating.

Richard grew up a confident, warm and refined individual. He touched our innermost notions about what life was really about. Richard answered a question we must all have thought of at one time or another: Whether or not life is really just a play?

Richard's life was an exciting and dramatic play, whose characters appeared first in our lives as parents and relatives, then in the lives of others as friends, and finally in the spontaneous relationships which grew into loving memories. Memories alive with us today.

Richard was the most dramatic person I ever knew. As we grew into adolescence we played with conversations, finding whatever was around us to use as props. We took turns positioning ourselves on both sides of the dramatic action. We played with our food, we acted in our own plays, and we presented to audiences of strangers, and then carefully watched for a desired result. You can imagine how much fun it must have been playing with Richard while growing up. Richard was the greatest drama teacher in my life, and his standards were very high.

Richard and I we were kids in Brooklyn, and my earliest recollections of Richard are unforgettable. Richard, my first Cousin, was without a doubt the absolute most fun anyone could be with, especially while growing up. One of the reasons Richard was so much fun, was because he was older than me, and I looked up to him as an older brother.

Funerals, memorials, crypts, graveyards, the passing from life to death. Such subjects were the very core of many of his improvisations. The fun part was how he interacted. Richard acknowledged during our early years, and throughout our lives, that he relished the fact that we were just kids! He also knew how to interact and how to be as funny as possible. By doing so, he managed to extract from life maximum quantities of fun. These earliest experiences were present at the birth of Richard’s passion for theatricality.

It is with much sadness to say farewell to our beloved Richard. He was a brilliant, vibrant, and playful individual, who was taken away from us much too early, but the memory of Richard, his playfulness, his dramatic characteristics and his hilarity lives on in us.

As we celebrate his life on this day, I propose a toast to Richard: " XOXOXOXOXOX"

You are here with us

Hilarious Lovable
now we pay mention.

The experience
Dramatic? Playful?
we remember you!

“Dearly beloved

we are gathered here today,
remembering who?

That what was mortal

of Richard you are here now
living in us, ouch!"

The passing away,

the transition from a life;
improvisation.

Growing dramatic

screen plays and scripts speak our life
our unpublished works.

Dramatic features
our entrance and exit
cousin now grieving.

Confident and warm

“Is life is really just a play?”

innermost notions.

Parents our play,
relatives and friends love you

family memory.

Unforgettable.
First Cousin, most fun growing
now us kids get old.

Adults encountered

quite predictably funny

maximum of fun

Passion for theatre
we are all parts in your play

dramatic cousin!

Now adolescence,
playing with our food

use it as a prop.

Both sides of drama,
play directing, we are on?

The audience speaks.

Strangers and your friends

much sadness, “farewell cousin”

“Yes, be seeing you!”