Meet my dad, Ricardo. He passed away a few years ago after a very long bout with Alzheimer's. When we had a memorial service for him, lots of people came forward to share something about him. What we learned was that everyone who spoke thought that they were the most special person in his life. That included his children and grandchildren. That's the kind of person he was. When he was with you, nothing else mattered to him.
There are many, many special things about my dad that I remember. Here's a few:
- When we were quite young (7-8 years old), he would sit us down on the bed before lights out. He would teach us three new vocabulary words each night such as "ilk", "naive" and "idiosyncrasy". After telling us the meaning, he urged us to use each word three times. Then it would be ours, he would say.
- He was very particular about his clothes. He would notice the smallest wrinkle in his starched white shirts. He would take out the ironing board and fix it (my mother was pretty good though and wrinkles were few). He always admonished us to pay attention to details.
- He had a great sense of humor. Once he was digging a hole in the back yard for our septic tank. We all knew that it would be a long and arduous task. After about half an hour, he told us to go get Mom. While she was walking out from the house, he knelt down in the hole giving the impression that he had dug a hole about three feet deep in a short amount of time. Sure enough, when she saw him, she was incredulous at his rapid progress. We all laughed so hard both that day and to this day--55 years later!
- When we moved to our present home in 1995, he came out to help my husband and me landscape the back yard. We worked every day on a flagstone courtyard with adobe walls. I can say unequivocally-- he kicked our butts!! At the end of the day, when we wanted to shower and rest, he wanted to know which restaurant served the best Margaritas.
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