Happy Fathers Day

My Dad has been gone for quite some time , after a lengthy battle with colon cancer.


There is not a day that goes by when I don't wish he was still here , not just for my sake but for my kids too.


I wish he had been able to see them grow up. He would have been so proud of them.I wish he had been able to meet my (finally, a normal one! ) husband. He would have been proud of him too :)



I wish he had been around longer because he was such a good influence for my kids.



Even though none of us had enough time with him ,I see him in the mirror and I see him in our sarcastic sense of humor. I see his self discipline , ambition and intelligence in my children.





Like me, my Dad was always the one with the camera in his hand.




When I was a little kid I always thought of him as being real old. I guess he was kind of old. When him and my mom got married she was 19 ,he was 32.



My Dad grew up in the slums of Boston. I think there were 7 kids in his family.When he was a little boy he used to wear a cut off stocking on his head to make his hair go straight back.




That was a small goal,but it worked. My Dad always did whatever it took to make his goals and dreams a reality.




Before he even had a high school diploma he managed to get himself into the Border Patrol. One of the prerequisites was that he would have like 2 or 3 months to become fluent in Spanish,which he did.










As he grew older ,his dreams grew bigger. All through my childhood he dreamed of owning a boat. A BIG boat. Whenever I got to go see him we would go to boat shows and look at boats.I remember being about 5 ,going to boat shows in his green government car. The back doors wouldn't open from the inside ,just like a cop car.




My dad achieved that goal as well. I don't remember how old he was, but he got his Crealock 37 Sailboat.
And learned to sail it.







His next goal was to be a District Director of Immigration by the time he retired.


Of course ,he DID achieve this as well.



Even when my Dad was so sick he was a little skeleton on a morphine heart catheter ,he made himself get dressed and be up all day.He amazed me.
If there is anyone in this world that I aspire to be like it is my Dad.







Out of all his children ,I'm sure I worried him the most. In spite of that, I'd still like to think I was his favorite.



I love and miss you every day Dad!



Happy Fathers Day, Love your favorite :)