Jul 17, 2019
Richard grew up in Revere, MA, a small city outside of Boston.
After graduating high school, he then dropped out of college after
a couple of months. He went to work in an airline kitchen where he
met his wife of 29 years, Barbara. One year later, Barbara gave
birth to Richie on November 17, 1987. Three years later, they were
blessed with Matthew. Richard decided that he didn’t want to work a
blue-collar job for his entire life, so he enrolled in a computer
technical training school at night for two years. After graduation,
he went to work for a real estate investment company in their IT
department. Soon after, he returned to college and spent another
three years going to school at night, then graduating with honors.
He went on to start his own successful IT consulting company which
he has run for the last 18 years.
Richard has traveled the world, and these experiences have allowed
him to immerse himself in diverse cultures from people all over the
world. The people and friends that he met along this journey have
educated him in lessons of life, love and spirituality. He has
lived his life with great happiness, love, passion and gratitude.
Believing that life is working for us helps him move forward
through an obstacle or challenge.
However, he also encountered a lot of suffering along this journey:
He lost his father at the age of 27, his grandfather at 37, and his
son Richie at 47. Despite the heartbreak, he found a way to
discover his true self and live a life worth living. He decided to
write his first book about dealing with the loss of his son, and
hopes it will help others who also suffer devastating losses on
their journey of grief.
His book will benefit his son Richie’s foundation which provides
assistive technologies to children with disabilities. Richie is
currently working with parents that have lost children and
assisting them on their journey of grief.
It sounds so cliché’, but Richard Pryor is an inspiration. Not only because of what he and his family have gone through, but because what he learned about life, and shares every moment with those blessed to know him. I won’t lie, the first few minutes of this conversation are tough. I held back sobs as I tried to ask questions. And, do not miss the opportunity to spend time with this exquisite human. You will leave richer, deeper and profoundly grateful.
“Then I started thinking, what else could Richie’s passing mean? And it was like a lightbulb went off in my head, and that was when things started shifting.” – Richard Pryor
Today on Mastering Midlife:
- What do you do, what do you think, how do you cope, when you lose a beloved son, suddenly?
- Sometimes even the so called, “negative” coping tools can keep us going.
- How all he wanted to do was “fix” is family, and the futileness of that endeavor.
- How we grieve, how long we grieve, is a very personal journey.
- How missing his “Photo op” with Tom Brady lead to his life changing insight.
- Lightbulb moment, “life is about what I focus on and the meaning I give to things.”
- How wearing a “mask” became too burdensome and how dropping that mask is freedom.
- How and why, after all this, Richard can say “it feels so good to be in this skin.”
Resources Mentioned:
- “Warriors of Life” Richard Pryor
Connect with Richard Pryor:
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