Fathers Day

Today is Fathers Day so I'd like to share some things about my dad in honor of this day. My dad Louis, AKA Louie was born in the Azores on the island of Flores. It sits there with 8 other island about 930 miles off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal. He moved to the Stougthon, Mass. when he was 16 years old with my grandparents Anna and Abilio, twin sister Mary, and older brother Joe. In 1974 he met my mom, they got married 2 years later, then in 1977 they decided to move the family to California.

Beautiful Island of Flores, Azores

My dad got a job here pretty quickly working a graveyard shift at a Dairy company. I remember as a little girl before I started school, my dad would watch me during the day while my mom went to work part time at a hair salon. He would try his best to stay awake until my mom got home, but it didn't always work out that way. There were a few times he dosed off on the couch leaving me with my toys and the TV set to the Smurfs.

Every morning my dad would take me to Hanks Coffee shop for breakfast, which so happen to be right next door to the salon my mom worked at. We always stopped at my moms work so she could comb my long hair before he took me out in public He did try the hair thing a few times but If you ever see pictures of me from ages 3-5, I had some pretty epic outfits and hairstyles. My mom would always tell him "That outift doesn't match", but he tried and he did conquer the two ponytail bit so I had those quite often.

My dad was also the dad that went to all my feild trips with me. I remember one time we went to Marine Land and all us kids got drenched at the dolphin pool, he bought us all new t-shirts so we wouldn't get sick. I think he was more worried that the other parents would be upset after seeing his group soppy and cold. HAHA! There was always a fight with the kids on who was going to be part of our group during trips. I was always proud to have my daddy there!

Growing up my dad was always supportive from my drill dance team competitions, to my amatuer talent show contests in the living room. I can honeslty say if it wasn't for my dad I wouldn't be the person I am today, or even the runner that I am. Yes he's made me cry a few times during races for pushing me but now that I think about it, he did it because he wanted to show me what I can do. Besides morning breakfasts at Hanks Coffe Shop, the feild trips, the shopping sprees my mom never knew about, the best time I had with my dad was running my first marathon with him. I was so glad to have my dad there with me by my side. We ran, laughed and just enjoy that wet raining day together.

My dad has been through so much the past couple of years. He cared for my mom while she was going through her chemo treatments, he cooked, cleaned and always made sure she was ok. He kept our family together and stayed strong for her. My dad is amazing and I know the day I have children of my own my dad is going to be a very "Cool Grandpa"!!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY to my Papa Louie. I love you very much and I can't thank you enough for everything you have done for our family. To all the dads out there, I hope you have a wonderful day with your families!!!