Update on Beach gathering September 12th

OK Everyone! Just wanted to post an update on the Bech party I posted before. I originally said "South Mission", but after some very sagely advise from someone who knows a lot more than I (Higgy-baby!), we are looking at Mission Beach, just South of the Roller Coaster. There is a grassy area and BBQ available, and of course, the fire pits! So, if you are interested, please show up! I will give more details in days to come.

Thanks everyone!!! :)

Beach Bon-fire planned at South Mission on the 12th of September!

I posted something about this on Facebook (late June/Early July) about trying to organize a Bon-Fire at South Mission before the end of the summer before my Dad took ill. Well, it is time to start planning on this again. In fact, after my Dad’s funeral talking to Jesse, Lee, Joel, Dan and Deb and Kevin the whole “wouldn’t it be good if we got together on the beach…?” conversation came up! So, in getting with the above mentioned folks it seems that a good day will be Saturday, September 12th, 2009 for a gathering of folks from Kearny/Taft and any invitees at South Mission. Are you from Mission Village? Serra Mesa? You should be there! :)

We will try and get a Fire ring so we can have a fire into the evening. (We may need some wood to be brought!) Bring your own food and drink (I understand Mission has banned alcohol…?) and let’s have some fun!

Time: ? TBD (More info to come, but I know some cannot make it until after 4 pm. My son and I will want to be there earlier in the day though to exhibit our Boogie-boarding prowess! :)

Let me know if you have any questions. If you need my email address, let me know. (I don’t publish it publicly on here…) More details to come!

The Funeral on Saturday August 1st was very nice.

We had about 30 people attend and the event turned out as good as I could have hoped. I don’t know how you can say that a funeral is “good” (if that makes sense) but the event went very well. I was afraid that I might mess up doing the eulogy. I felt like I stumbled through, but got assurances afterward that things went OK. My brother and I were very happy with the turn out, and everyone was so kind. We had family and friends show up and give a tremendous amount of support. I arrived close to an hour early and we already had people there!
My brother, my family and I would like to thank all those who came out and showed their support and offered their condolences. It is so great to feel everyone’s support!

Something else that happened on Saturday the 1st- after the service my wife, my brother and I were going to get some lunch. Brenda chose the perfect place to eat…The Little Fish Market in Mission Valley. Why was that perfect? The last time my family gathered together to be wit my dad we went to the Little Fish Market and got some take out and went down to Mission Bay and had a little lunch overlooking the water. Well, when we showed up at the Little Fish Market, it was closed! They were taking the signs down from the walls! At first we were bummed…but then we thought how fitting it was that my dad’s favorite place to eat was closing down. (And not sure why it closed…there was always a lot of people there when we went in!).

Finally, for dinner that night we couldn’t decide where to go. My son made the suggestion to go to El Indio Taco shop downtown. That was a perfect place for us, and it has become my son’s favorite eatery in San Diego. I remember it from many years ago when I worked at the Union 76 station that used to be down the street…

All in all, this was a very good weekend as we gathered together to remember my dad, spend time with wonderful friends and family, and take in the beauty of San Diego.

Memorial Weekend- The scattering of ashes

On July 31st, 2009 we held a ceremony to scatter my dad’s ashes at sea. Well, maybe “ceremony” is too formal a word…what we did was celebrate my dad’s love of the ocean by taking his ashes off shore to a place we felt was significant for him and scattered his ashes while telling stories of my dad’s fishing trips and anecdotes of times spent on or near the ocean. One of the truly tremendous things for me was so sit on this boat and spend the time with my only son, who enjoyed the time on the water and found out how wonderful time at sea can be and came to understand why “Grandpa” would love it so much.
The ceremony was simple- just a prayer and a thank you for a dad who worked hard and spent time with us doing things like fishing. My brother and I scattered the ashes, then we all tossed flowers into the ocean around the spot.
A special Thank You goes to Eric Meins for taking us out on his boat and providing the flowers we scattered with the ashes. He was a tremendous help to us and a blessing at this most difficult time…
Due to limited space, we only had 6 people on the boat: Eric the captain of the boat, myself, my brother Dave, my wife Brenda, my son Daniel, and our long time friend Carmen, whose mom was friends with my mom and whose brother played baseball with me for years.
It was a terrific time and I cannot express how wonderful it was. We even had a pod of porpoises swim in front of the boat on the way back in from the scattering! It was awesome!

Service Time for my dad is 10:30 am, August 1st

The info is below on where it will be held, and the obituary should be in the Union/Trib. starting Wednesday or Thursday. Due to very limited space on the boat, the scattering at sea to be held on Friday will be a private ceremony.
Once again, thank you to all of you who have email, called, posted comments, or sent cards. I really appreciate everything and it is great to know my dad was appreciated, and that our family is supported so much!
Neptune Society Chapel14065 Hwy 8 Business
El Cajon, CA 92021
(619-561-6400)

My dad passed away on July 18th...

Some background:He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer (Squamous cell carcinoma) late in June and had a series of complications from that point forward. He struggled with Hypercalcemia (an increase of the calcium in his blood), which led to dehydration, impacting his concentration and cognitive capabilities. The tumor itself apparently contributed to furthering the Hypercalcemia by generating more calcium on its own. Between July 3rd and the 16th he went from being admitted into Sharp Memorial in San Diego a couple of times to being in a nursing facility and then being readmitted to Sharps on the 16th. His health quickly declined over the last couple of days with a notification late on the 16th of my dad having kidney problems. Early on the 17th we were told his kidneys were shutting down. Dave (my brother) called me at work and I left for San Diego. Yesterday morning my brother and I met with the Dr. and the condition was stated pretty clearly- at 80 years old his body was shutting down and it was time to prepare for the inevitable. We stayed with him throughout the day and at 9:48 pm my dad’s heart stopped. At 10:08 pm the Dr. officially announced the time of death.

Some acknowledgements:My brother David has done so much for my dad over the years, but in the last month he has gone from work to the hospital, then back to work and spent so much of his time and energy helping my dad, checking on him and taking care of him. I really appreciate all that he has done for our dad. The nursing staff and Dr.’s at Sharp Memorial were fantastic. They took a vested interest in our dad, were very kind to us and were compassionate to the end. They really were wonderful and could not have taken better care of him.

Alltime Padre tribute...and Father's Day? Actually it makes sense.

What is your favorite Padre moment of all time? Was it when Dave Winfield was elected to the HOF? The Padres first World Series game? Enzo Hernandez establishing the National League mark for most Sacrifice Bunts in a season...? :)

For me, my favorite Padre moment ties into Father's Day weekend. Mine was watching the Padres win all three playoff games against the Cubs in San Diego in 1984 with my Dad. My Dad's legs were not too strong, but we made it to the upper deck to watch all three games. And more specifically, the greatest moment of those games was Steve Garvey's homer against Lee Smith in game 4. The moment when the Flannery ground ball went through Leon Durham's legs in game 5 was awesome (Teddy bears began raining down from the upper deck!), but Garvey's homer still gives me goose bumps to this day. And although I love Jerry Coleman, I still hear Don Drysdale's call in my head (since from my angle I thought Henry Cotto had a chance to catch it), "Deep right field, way back! Cotto going back to the wall...it's gone!!! Home run Garvey, and there will be tomorrow!" (Don Drysdale on ABC-TV). And I saw it all with my dad... :)