Ann McGough
Special to the Reporter

Whenever the kids and I go out to a crowded venue, whether it is the zoo, the Children's Museum or the South Shore Plaza, I give them a little talk about keeping safe.

"You have to stay close to Mama so I can see you. When you run off, I can't see you and then a bad man might hurt you and take you away."

I do try to scare them, because we live in a crazy world. I have believed that eventually the time would come when my children would be old enough, smart enough, strong enough that I would no longer have to worry about that "bad man" hurting them and taking them away from me.

But, as my heart goes out to the Dever family this morning, I realize that you never stop worrying about bad guys. Billy and Kathy Dever are great people, and their four children grew into wonderful adults.

Ricky Dever, who was murdered in Charlestown over the weekend, was everything that any mother would want for her own son. He was bright, kind, caring, and funny. He was a good son, a loyal brother, a loving uncle, and a true friend. Could you rally up all of the people who were ever lucky enough to have crossed paths with him, from his childhood friends from Ronan Park or Don Bosco; his teammates from the UMass-Amherst rugby team; his colleagues at the sheriff's department; his chums from Adams Village, you would be very pressed to find anyone who, upon his hearing Ricky Dever's name, would not light up and say, "What a great kid!"

Testament to that were the dozens of cars outside of the Devers' house in the hours after the tragedy. One friend said that as soon as Ricky's inner circle of friends received the awful news, they were all up and out at 4 a.m. to be with the Dever family.

At the Saint Patrick's Day Breakfast, City Councillor Michael Flaherty reached out to the Devers, saying, "Your loss is our loss."

This is true, but I cannot help thinking about Mr. and Mrs. Dever. Here they saw four children out of diapers, through adolescence, and into college. They moved from one neighborhood in Dorchester to another, maybe to keep their family safe. I can only imagine the pride they feel as they look at all of Timmy, Ricky, Brendan, and Sheila's accomplishments.

At this point in the Devers' lives, a phone call in the middle of the night should have only come heralding good news; a new job, a promotion, another grandchild, or that Ricky had asked some lucky girl to be his wife.

Billy and Kathy Dever's little boy grew up into a fine young man, who helped people, not only because his chosen profession was public safety, but because that is what Ricky Dever was all about.

Like I said before, I always tell my babies to look out for the bad guys, but it is hard to know where the bad guys are. It is easier to spot the good guys, and Ricky Dever was the best.