Happy (Upcoming) Birthday Dad

Of course, my dad has never seen this blog - and if I play my cards right, he never will... but that doesn't mean I should ignore his birthday. I mean - without him, there'd be no me - so that reason alone is enough to celebrate.

My dad will be 52 on Saturday. He's a Leo... uhm, whatever that means.

Anyway, in celebration of him, I thought I'd share a bit about him.

My dad is the middle child of 7. He was raised in the projects of San Antonio. Not many people know that. I knew it - but it wasn't until I saw exactly what that meant that I realized just how poor our family was back then.

Dad did go to college, but dropped out (flunked out) after 3 semesters. My favorite college story of Dad's I like to share is when he and his college buddies (one of which is now a district judge here in SA - I won't say which) created their own fraternity. Zappa Krappa Chi. You had to have a 3.0 GPA or below to join ... and as Dad so lovingly put it - they even had "a few guys on Academic Probation" (meaning they had GPA's above a 3.0). Funny stuff.

My dad is one of my best friends. We are a lot alike in many ways - mostly in our shared interests (music, movies, the Spurs), but also in other ways. Neither one of us are very good w/confrontation, and we'd rather stew than shout. We are also more likely to forgive and forget; letting very few things bother us.

I have so many wonderful memories of my dad and of all the amazingly sweet things he has done for me over the years. One of my favorites was when I was in High School - it was either the spring or the summer - and my dad was outside cutting the grass. At one point, my mom called me outside (Dad's not a show-off), because he had actually lawnmowed my nickname "Ari" in the grass. He left it like that for a couple of weeks. And every time I walked outside, I would see it and every time I would smile and fall just a little bit more in love with my dad (uhm, in the daughterly way - NASTY!). It might not seem like much to you, but to me it was just enough.

More recently, when I was coming back from NYC - my dad was set to pick me up from the airport. He knew I was already upset because my flight had been delayed and I was worried I would miss the tip off of an important play-off game. So to make sure I didn't miss anything, he brought a small 6" TV that plugs into the cigarette lighter in his car.

My dad is always doing small things like that for me.

"Pop" is a humble man. He's been working 2 jobs ever since I was in MS, just so our family could stay afloat. And even then, he has ALWAYS been there for me. It's from him that I get my strength, my work ethic, and my deep devotion to family - no matter what challenges we have to face.

I want to leave you with one piece of advice my dad has always given me...

Love completely - and smile with your whole heart.