On September 10th, 2012, I stood on the alter at St. Norbert's Church, surrounded by my sister and three brothers, and delivered the most important speech of my life - my Father's eulogy...
How lucky are we, the children of Betty and Al, to be born
into such a large, loving and close-knit family.
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| Mammoth 1976 |
Dad loved our Mother for 50 years.
Dad designed the house in Villa Park that we all grew up in.
He designed the cabin in Big Bear where we all saw snow for the first time and
learned how to ski. He refused to
install a TV in the cabin, showing us the importance of bonding as a family over
reading books together, playing games and working on jigsaw puzzles while
eating his favorite treat – frozen M&Ms.
We drove many miles in our family van every summer and
enjoyed the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, river rafting in Colorado, the redwoods,
sliding down the sand dunes, the world’s fair, Canada…and as adults, just a few years ago, we
traveled to Italy where we met his Italian relatives he never knew he had.
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| Our beautiful Italian family |
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| More beautiful Italian family |
Dad provided us with warm, happy memories as children: laying out picnic blankets in the TV room to eat our popcorn out of our baskets
for family movie nights, double features
at the drive inn movies, bowling every Sunday at Regal Lanes, Black Angus
dinner after church, many years of piano lessons...
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| Graduation from CSUF |
He laid a solid foundation for us by instilling the belief that
having a strong education will open the door to whatever we wanted in life.
After seeing us through eight years at St.
Norbert’s School, guiding us thru our teenage years at Villa Park High School,
and celebrating our graduations from Cal State Fullerton, we each set off to conquer
the world
debt free - thanks to Dad.
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| Dancing at my brother Troy's wedding. |
He encouraged us to pursue our dreams, weather it was in
business, finance, art, theatre, or creating families of our own, and he always
welcomed us back home with open arms if we needed a place to start fresh or get
our bearings before embracing the world again. There was always a place called
Home for us.
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| Hugs in Italy |
The last week of Dad’s life was filled with tears, prayers,
concern and constant care for him and each other. Those were moments that all
of us were privileged to have shared, no matter how difficult it was, because
the presence of love, family, friends, and God was there, blanketing us with a
sense of community and peace. We were lucky enough to have been at Dad’s side
in the last moment of his life and we could not have asked God for a more peaceful
and beautiful transition.
He slipped
away and found his place in heaven so easily that we were left astounded and
speechless.
Calm and silent.
Thank you Lord, for giving our Dad such a poignant end to
such a long, fruitful and beautiful life. We will live on, cherishing the
legacy of love and family that he left behind, building on that legacy so it
may continue to thrive after we have found our place in heaven with you as
well.
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| I love you, Dad, and I'll see you again some day... |
Theresa, what a beautiful post and tribute to your dad. You've been so strong through this and he's so proud of you. He's up in heaven now watching over all of you while eating his endless supply of frozen M&M's. Love you so much.
ReplyDeleteThank you Debbie!! You are my ROCK thru all of this.
DeleteA beautiful farewell to a man who clearly modeled how to be a good man and father. I am sorry for your and your family's loss. One of the many good things about great people like your father is that they have a way of leaving behind beautifully good people like you and your siblings. You all carry the goodness forward in life. I salute you. Love, D
ReplyDeleteDD - You are wonderful. Thank you for all the support and taking care of Reiko and kiddos while Troy was in Cali with us. Such a good friend.
DeleteWhat a wonderful send-off for him. While reading your words, I see myself in many of those memories: in your home, at the cabin, and trying to "sneak" M&M's. I'm grateful for being a part of those memories and even more grateful for you! You hold a place in my heart that no one else will ever hold. Love you! JJB
ReplyDeleteLove you Foo. You ARE a staple in our family memories and you hold a special place in my heart as well.
Deletexoxo
Beautifully written, Theresa. I'm so glad you were able to be with you father during his last moments and that you had the support of your whole family as well. I wish I could have been in CA to help you through this tough time...much love, karen
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen! I felt your love from 3,000 miles. :)
ReplyDelete