I hope where-ever you are, you’re in your favorite color, red, dancing to your favorite music: reggae. May your feet be young and your heart care-free. May you be light as a feather with the weight of pure gold and sparkling diamonds on your wrists, fingers and around your neck.
Afterward, your favorite dish: fresh jasmine rice (2 x a day)and a big, juicy steak. Salted, peppered, sliced red, ripe tomatoes on the side and of course, vinegar with chopped garlic soaking in it. You always loved a cold mango, over the sink with juice running down your chin and the flesh in your teeth. I will never forget your primal enjoyment at so simple a pleasure that it never made it to a plate. When everyone ordered chocolate, you preferred vanilla.
You were always the first one to say yes to Scrabble and had absolutely no strategy. You just wanted to keep the game moving which sometimes would take several hours. Card games were your weakness and you would spend your last cent on those damn machines…you were ruthless when you would take Dad’s last five when you secretly had a Benjamin hidden behind your mother’s photo in your wallet. I can’t remember if I ratted you out or maybe, John…or Laura.
You would rather play solitaire or shop than watch baseball. I’m glad we returned to the Philippines together to visit our ancestral lands. It’s a memory I revisit when I think of a magical place. You taught me never to fear anger. And what happens when you close your broken-heart to forgiveness. You taught me which road is the higher road.
I wish you all the free will in heaven. I wish you all my love. I wish that I had loved you more.
I miss you.
Happy, happy, happy Birthday! See you on the other side of that thin white veil ~ not ready yet, but someday.
A collaboration between the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival, the Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Cultural Center and the Manzanar National Historic Site, made possible by a grant from the California Civil Liberties Education Program administered by the California State Library.
Hope and renewal is visiting me in the garden. A reminder from nature that life is transformation and time is a season that continues despite human intervention.
With hope and faith, I look forward to the future through the lens of nature.
Be healthy, be kind to one another, and fly above the discord. xo, j
You loved the standards sung by Frank Sinatra. Your favorite song was “My Way”. I can still remember waking up to Peggy Lee singing, “Is That All There Is?” And Petula Clark. And Neil Diamond. I think you wanted to be Neil Diamond. Those “Hot August Nights” were replayed over and over. You will be happy to know that John is restoring your beloved stereo cabinet from Okinawa.
Escarole was one of your favorite vegetables. Chocolate was a weakness. Traveling the high seas was a passion. Highly intelligent, kind, and sentimental, you gave 33 years to Howard Hughes. I grew up listening to Vin Scully, the Dodgers, and Farmer John bacon commercials on the radio because you were such a loyal fan when they were a Brooklyn team. You adored your mother and your siblings.
Our funniest memory is when my husband asked for your blessing to propose to me as you were walking together. You asked him, “Are you sure?” His answer to you was, “Is there something I should know, Bob?” We still laugh about it. You taught Tom about Bushmills single malt whiskey and you both drank until the wee small hours. You shared your Churchill cigars with him generously as well. You taught us how to play Hand & Foot and was very strict about the rules. I have never won. You hated Scrabble and would rather watch a crappy movie.
Basil the man to your right—was one of your best friends, as was Uncle Paul the man to your left—your younger brother, and your only son, John is to your far right. Your beloved and youngest. I am not at all jealous. Really.
I remember this fun day after the races at Del Mar so clearly. This was an Italian restaurant at the time–one of its many incarnations now inhabited by a real estate company. Like the mensch you were, you picked up the check and wouldn’t take a single dollar from anyone. Those were the days. Happy times.
I really miss you. I hope you, mom, Uncle Paul, Grandma Fay, and all of your friends are having a great party up there. Well, whenever you see mom. I’m sure even in heaven, she is probably at the casinos. At least now you won’t have to pick her up.
Say hi to Pop Pop (Big Tom). And put in a good word to the Big Guy to continue watching over all of us. He knows more than ever, how much we need His special guidance. That —and/or a giant cattle prod.
Here’s to another stellar year of films with social impact and powerful perspectives. Please join us at the Film Insider Series, Movies at the Bay, and the super fun Film Festival on October 13-16, 2020. www.sdfilmfest.com
NO, It’s NOT the Pope!
Land ahoy!
Bang & Olufsen coolio…
