17 June 2008

dads n stuff

Why is it that the orange juice falls out of the fridge and spills onto the floor ONLY on days when you're running late? Sheesh.

My boss is having his surgery tomorrow, which I wrote about a while back. If you're the praying type, throw a shout-out for him. It sucks to see such good people go through rough times.

The Chronicle interviewed my dad, brother, uncle & cousin after the Astros vs Yankees game Sunday. Go to: www.chron.com/sports and there will be a little video player on the left-hand side, about halfway down. The link is Astros Fans or something like that. Pretty neat.

And I got to thinking Sunday, with it being Father's Day and all. The dad that I usually refer to as "dad" means the dad that lives here in Texas, my "step father." The dad that lives in California is "CA dad."

Although he is technically my step father, I don't see it that way. I mean, he raised me. He's treated my like his own since as long as I can remember. He's my dad, plain and simple. Most people don't even know that we don't share the same last name.

I don't think me and Ash would be the same people that we are now if CA dad had raised us. He's a good person, and I know he loves us. We get along and talk about once a month or so, but he's just not one of those guys who has those natural father abilities.

When we were kids one Christmas he nailed the tree to the ceiling along with all the gifts, so when we came over we freaked out. I remember when he took us on Sundays, we'd go fly kites in the park or bury each other in the sand at the beach, or something fun. One time when we were at the park Ashley was trying to slide down the slide, but she peed her pants and was sticking to it and we had to go home. Haha sorry Ash. We've gone camping in the desert at the mud caves, been to countless water parks, Disney Land and up and down the coast. I've been up in a hot air balloon with him, and for a couple 4th of Julys we sold those glow necklaces during the fireworks. There are good memories there. Even now that we're adults he sends cash when we're broke and flies us out to see him when we have the time. Like I said, he has been a pretty decent dad.

The thing is, though, being so far away he can't be there all the time. And when you're growing up, that's what matters. Every single time, ever, "dad" has put us first. When we were really poor he'd work 7 days a week just to feed us. He's the one who built our bunk beds and would tuck us in so good that we couldn't move. He was the one who gave rides to school when we missed the bus, and who threatened to beat up that boyfriend who tried to feel me up under the tabe at IHOP at Homecoming. I've never seen anyone look so scared, LOL!
He's driven us to the emergency room. He's grounded us for mouthing off (something that took me a LONG time to learn NOT to do). He taught me how to play basketball and put up a hoop in the driveway.
Dad was the one who teared up a little during my first dance solo and made sure the curtains were opened and closed at my senior spring show. He made sure to write directions for my first time driving to the beach and stick them on my cooler before I left. He checks the air in my tires and fills up my tank every once in a while. After my car accident, he hauled ass and was there to make sure I was ok.
Yeah he's your typical dad, griping when you leave the door open, "we're not air-conditioning the entire world!" and likes to crash on the couch while watching TV. His feet are ticklish, and if you walk by and tickle them when he's sleeping it's SO FUNNY. He likes mint chocolate chip ice cream and gets a kick out of the cats, even though he won't admit it.
The bottom line is, any thing we've ever wanted, he's wanted to make happen. Of course you can't make every thing come true, but just the fact that he cares enough to want that for us is the thing that matters. And he's done SO much, and I don't think he realizes that yeah, we do appreciate it and we do see it.

Ok, tribute to the padre is done :o)

1 comment:

  1. Very nice tribute to your dads. They both sound like wonderful people, especially your step dad.

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