I was either 14 or 15 and Paul asked me if I'd like to join him at their hunting cabin for gun season for deer. I was excited to join Paul and the guys and we had a great time and they made me feel welcome. Paul told me the process of how to surround and push the deer and how to shoot a 12 gauge shotgun. Even though I never bagged a buck or doe which I felt was due to my buck fever we did have a baby deer gallop down a hill towards us, five feet away and stop. Realizing we were not another deer it darted off and we just looked at each other in awe. Another time, I ran away when I was 15 and joined the James E. Strate Show at the Syracuse fairgrounds and rode a train to Pennsylvania. I ended up getting a bad case of Pleurisi and if it wasn't for Paul finding me and calling out ,asking me to come back home I might not be here.He offered his home even when his wife was sick and he had two children to care for.He was there for me and I'll always love him for that.

Paul spent a lot of time working in the Buffalo, New York area, and one of the local restaurants he frequented was The Anchor Bar, which is famous for having created Buffalo Chicken Wings.

My father liked to tell the story of how he was there one day when the owner approached him and asked him if he'd like to try a new chicken appetizer recipe his wife had just thrown together the evening before. He tried the hot-sauced chicken wings and gave them his personal thumbs up of approval, and shortly after that, they appeared on the menu.

Who knows? If he hadn't liked them, would the world be enjoying chicken wings as we do today? Maybe not!  My father was always a larger-than-life personality to me, and I like the idea that his personal legacy to the world might live on in such a small way. I'm embellishing shamelessly here, but I imagine that perhaps he even said "You know, I bet these would be great with celery and blue cheese."

The next time you enjoy Buffalo wings, spare a smile and nod for Paul, and say a little thank you!