My dad and I talked a lot. He told me about what he cooked for dinner. While he tried hard to eat from his Mediterranean cookbook, he loved to bbq. He had a dream of making an “outdoor kitchen” so that he wouldn’t have to turn on the oven in the house during the summer.
He told me about his gardening classes and that drip irrigation was the best thing for a garden. He couldn’t wait to have the kids working in the garden with him.
He told me about what he had been watching on tv. He loved Schitt’s Creek and Dan Levy. He couldn’t wait for the next season of Only Murders in the Building. The last movie he saw was Disclosure Day, he wasn’t impressed.
He told me about his friend Jaime and the kittens he was taking care of. He told me about traveling with his best friend Felipe and how they had to fight over the outlet in the hotel because they both used CPAPs. He told me the ladies at the daycare asked him to be Santa two years in a row. It was one of his greatest achievements.
When a jet flew over us, he told me exactly what kind of jet it was. If my car made a funny noise, he told me (in great detail) what it could be and how to fix it. He told me he missed Car Talk on NPR. He told me when the Cowboys were making him angry and what coach Pop was up to these days. He told me how to fix things around the house, he told me how to build a shelf. He told me bible things, he told me what happened specific days during WW2, he told me about model trains, he told me he perfected his blueberry muffin recipe.
He told me he knew his purpose in life. He told me he knew why God put him here, to care for others. He cared for my mother until the very end. He cared for both his parents through the end of their lives. He tried so, so hard to care for my sister and when she passed away, he cared for her children.
I was the one that said, “Dad, wait. Maybe take a second. You’re an older man living by yourself. We can figure something out. You do not have to raise a 2 and 4 year old on your own.”
He said, “this is what I am here to do.”
I went to my dad for everything. I asked him career advice, how to manage stress, how to forgive people, how to keep going when losing someone feels like losing yourself. No matter what I asked, he always knew what to say and he always had an answer for me.
My dad is everything to me. He is the whole sky and he always will be.
