Dear Dad,
You know, I got to meet some of your friends recently. You got quite a few of them, actually - about 50 or 60 people out in Toronto, and they were telling me the same things.
Ozzie was always there to help us.
Whenever I called, Ozzie was there.
Ozzie would always tell me, '"Anything you need, I'm here".
They miss you, Dad, and I do too.
I'm glad we got to reconnect after being apart for a few years. Then I had to leave a year later, when I left for University when I was 17, and then I went straight to Europe after that.
You know, in professional soccer, a lot of us sacrifice our family time.
But soccer brought us together again, me ending up back in Toronto.
You didn't miss any of my games when I was there - whether I was playing for the national team, or at TFC.
That's when we grew really close, and I had some of the best moments of my life there with you around, so many special moments to cherish.
But you never put pressure on me to make it to a certain level. You just always told me, "Stay humble, stay confident, keep working."
That's how you were. You were always the quiet type, real humble, but you were strong. You got that old-man strength.
It's funny, because you could fix anything. You’ve built buildings. I’m certain you could build a house by yourself. You could do a lot of things I can’t do, Dad.
But you know what? I got your work ethic - I always tell them, "I got that from my Mom and Dad."
In a lot of ways, I see you when I look in the mirror. I try to be humble, just like you were. I try to go out of my way to help and make people comfortable, just like you did. You were loyal, you were good to your peers, and I try to be that.
It’s not like you told me to do these things, but it’s something that came naturally to me and now I know why.
I feel it's my obligation to give back to the community to do more outside of my sport and my profession to continue to grow. To continue to make myself and those around us better, that's what I live by.
You were someone that liked to help others, and you took pride in it.
Doing these things, the extra work in the community, these are things I'm doing now without knowing how much you did it.
It's something I'm going to continue to do with passion.
And I'll do it for the rest of my life to honour your name.
Love always,
Your son Tosaint
Osmond Roy Ricketts passed away on June 3, 2021 in Toronto. He was 65.
