UnPo 'd'Amore

Eulogy for My Dad

My Dad loved my mother.

My Dad loved his family and his friends.

My Dad loved to work in his garden,

and loved to build and fix things.

My Dad loved animals.

My Dad loved to tease, and could make fun of anything.

My Dad loved food and he loved to eat.

My Dad loved a lot of things, but never used the word love to describe anything, he didn’t need to, it just wasn’t his style.

My Dad was a very cool guy, he took us to see Elvis Presley and on cross country road trips.

My Dad was a shy, sensitive and humble man with a loud bark.

47 years of California living couldn’t erase the New Yorker in him.

He was a diamond in the rough.

a democrat who watched fox news.

My Dad often told stories of how certain dishes were prepared in a restaurant he once worked. He made turkey curry with thanksgiving leftovers and an excellent rice pudding.

My Dad didn’t play golf or watch sports. We didn’t drive to soccer games, we drove to hardware stores. 

In some of my fondest memories we are doing the simplest of things.

My Dad was a craftsman with his own unique style

He was mechanically inclined, patient but never idle, and always studied up on what interested him.

My Dad was hard of hearing and felt most alone in a crowded room.

My Dad became visually impaired in his later years, and as his vision diminished, his projects became more intricate. Scraps of wood from one project were transformed into a model boat, a model church, he was not wasteful, and everything had a purpose.

My Father owned the very first voice controlled car. He was able to navigate anywhere in the city, he could even designate exactly which parking space to occupy; of course this required my mother  at the wheel.

My Father used expressions like “This one Here”, “what are you thick headed” & “You Don’t listen” … They all translate into “I Love You”

My Father was a good decent man. You earned his respect by working or helping, by paying your debts and living up to your word.

My Father always told me, “you don’t understand the value of a dollar”.. my father was right, and he still gave me collectible coins each year.

My Father was a strong man, a south paw and he fought to stay alive, right up to the final hours of his life..

On Behalf of my Mother, Brother, Sister & our families, thank you for being here today to remember my dad. The memories of him we keep, and the memories of him we share, and the love we keep for him in our hearts, brings us all closer together, and keeps him alive in our hearts today, and in the months and years to come.