Remember when you took me trick or treating and I was Raggedy Anne and a man was pretending to be a scarecrow and he tried to scare all you adults and I just wanted him to pick me up?
Remember when everyone piled into your family room for Christmas morning and it was one of the only times everyone was all together?
Remember the cabbage patch doll you got me for Christmas because she looked just like me?
Remember the baby beauty pageant and me winning first place and getting to try chocolate for the first time?
Remember hanging out in your backyard with Buster the pony or playing on the big step in the pool in my life jacket?
Remember going fishing with me in my little rubber duckie boots and overalls and my pink fishing pole?
Remember Rashid and Sami visiting and Sami being a butthead, especially to me?
Remember going to all the soccer games and softball games, and all of Michael’s basketball and baseball games, and all of Alex’s soccer and softball games, and rooting us on?
Remember picking plums and peaches and apples and persimmons in the backyard and making sure to get all of the ones off the ground so the dogs didn’t get them?
Remember us bringing Kodi over to hang out in the back yard and how much bigger he looked than Bailey?
Remember all the father’s days and birthdays we spent at your house making lumpia and cucumber salad and smoked salmon and venison and burgers?
Remember going to La Provence for special birthdays because they had interesting game meat like kangaroo?
Remember going to Folsom Lake to hang out and fish and spend time on the boat?
Remember babysitting us for the day and taking us on errands and trying to entertain ourselves in the dentist’s office?
Remember going to the base to go shopping and me begging you to get tomagotchis for my friend and me?
Remember getting us the ps2 for Christmas and it was the best gift we ever got because the whole family could play?
Remember coming over every Christmas morning with a dozen donuts and spending the day at our house with all of the kids in our matching pjs?
Remember going to Alex’s graduation in Oakmont’s quad and how hot it was that afternoon?
Remember rides in the blazer that smelled like cigarettes and mints with papers and junk all over the back?
Remember lying to the DMV about losing one of your personalized license plates when you turned in the other one so you could give it to me because we have the same initials?
Remember pruning the ivy around the pool and doing all the yard work before jumping in the pool?
Remember Saleh and Cheryl and Sami and Rashid and his girlfriend at the time coming to visit and all of us hanging out in the grotto or the seat in the pool?
Remember teaching me with dad how to shoot by blowing up balloons and taping them to targets when I was a toddler?
Remember all of the visits to the range where you taught us about gun safety and how to be better and just hanging out while you worked as the range master?
Remember how Alex was always afraid of the range so we’d have to put ear muffs on her and leave her in the car with toys?
Remember the silly glass mugs you kept in the freezer so you could always have cold milk without it getting watery from ice?
Remember birthday calls while I was in college that lasted an hour just catching up because I didn’t see you as much anymore?
Remember going to the new range and me being almost as good as you at target practice?
Remember the weird bottle of alcohol with two necks that you gave dad and how he always wanted to save it for a special occasion and it’s still sitting unopened on the piano?
Remember us playing soccer in your big back yard when Rashid was still playing and Saleh was coaching a tournament nearby?
Remember us asking about your air force tattoos and you saying you don’t like yours anymore but Rashid got the same swallows you had with a banner between them that said “gramps”?
Remember how much Kodi loved you and got so excited to see you when you came over even though he never got that excited about anyone else?
Remember all the birthday cards and the checks you wrote for us that mum and dad spent to buy us toys instead of saving when we were kids?
Remember all of us wrestling in the family room when Sami came to visit and it was the biggest dog pile ever?
Remember Michael discovering the old motorcycle and wanting to restore it but you were scared for his safety so you made deals with him about not actually riding it?
Remember coming to pick Michael up to do yard work before he could drive himself and sometimes I’d come with you guys?
Remember Nathan coming over to meet you for the first time and hanging out in the backyard while dad picked fruit off the trees?
Remember when I did my 8th grade hero video project about you and how you quit smoking even though you hadn't actually quit but everyone gathered to watch it at someone's birthday dinner and everyone loved it?
Remember how much everyone loved you?
Rest in Paradise, Papa. May the fish always bite and may the steaks always be rare. I miss you.
February 8th, 1936 - September 29th, 2016
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