My first Father’s Day w/o my dad, and I’m choosing to reflect on the top 10 things I loved about him, instead of wallowing in sadness.

1. He wrote me letters all the time when I lived with my mom. I’m talking about 2-3 pages saying how much he loved and missed me

2. Every single time I called him, he picked up. The few times he missed my call, he’d call back immediately apologizing he made me feel like I was always his first priority

3. He hated it, but he’d spend hours with my nerdy self in the bookstores with me as a kid. And of course purchased all 50-11 books I picked out

4. My dad hadn’t been on a plane since I was literally one years old, (he refused to admit it, but he was scared of flying) but made sure he flew from Philly to Dallas for my wedding in 2017.

5. He taught me how to fix cars, and more importantly he taught me via a cellphone call how to successfully navigate and get away with a high speed chase with the Philadelphia PD at midnight

6. He was a provider and very proud to be the patriarch of our family. I used to jokingly tell him he was running a foster home. At any given time, he was housing and feeding someone’s kid.

7. The most charitable person I know. He spent his entire career helping the Strawberry Mansion community and underprivileged Philadelphians as a whole. He taught me to give back and help people in need, any and every time the opportunity arose.

8. Jokes for dayssssss. Nobody cracked jokes and talked shit like him. He always had a colorful story to tell, and it was up to you to decide if he was exaggerating or not lmao

9. Hard worker. Jack of all trades. My dad built homes, was a plumber, electrician, and mechanic. There was nothing he couldn’t build or fix. He even taught his brothers and cousins how to be electricans and masons, so they could support their families too.

10. Protector. My dad walked around like he had 10 pistols on him, and he never backed down from a fight my dad was fiercely (over)protective of his kids/family, and wanted us all to know that he’d beat someone up over us. No questions asked (and he did, multiple times )