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This weekend the world lost an incredible man - my hero and best friend, my father.
My dad's life had a tough start. He grew up in a home rife with abuse, physical and emotional. He began his adult life with nothing, least of all the support of his parents.
With all his hard work, he eventually became the top selling salesman for several consecutive years at the companies he represented. He was the embodiment of making something of oneself.
Despite his work ethic and success, he never prioritized work over family. Part of his job involved traveling to furniture stores and manufacturers all over the East Coast.
He would often make 10+ hour round trips (as far as upstate New York) in a single day to avoid spending time away from our family.
His favorite past-time was bowling. He was the first person to bowl a perfect game at our local bowling alley, and they celebrated this by hanging his name throughout the alley for _months_.
Going to the bowling alley became something we always shared, every Saturday morning he'd wake me up at 8am and we'd go down there together.
Besides an interest in bowling, I credit my dad for getting me excited about computers and technology.
When I was young (and long before you’re able to order parts online) we would visit “Computer Shows” at the local fairgrounds to buy parts (in retrospect, it was a bit weird to buy stuff from unnamed vendors).
We would then build almost every computer my family ever used together.
He was the kindest man, willing to go the extra mile for anyone. One year my grandmother was traveling to London on vacation with her friends. When she arrived at the airport, she noticed she hadn’t brought her passport.
Early in the morning, my dad tore out of our house to go down to her apartment, retrieve the passport, and bring it to her at the gate (pre-9/11, of course). Flight attendants told my grandmother they never believed she’d make that flight - but that wasn’t acceptable for my dad.
His selflessness was not limited to his family and friends. My dad once was at a local gas station and saw a woman being assaulted at the pump nearby. He intervened and ensured her safety before driving off.
Despite not telling her his name, she somehow tracked him down and came to our house to thank him for protecting her that night.
As cliche as it sounds, he was truly one-of-a-kind. The kind of guy who’d give you the shirt off his back, and no favor was too big to ask. The kind of guy with such charisma that he made friends wherever he went.
I owe so much of who I am to him, and I can only hope to be half the man he was.
Dad, I love you and you’ll always be in my heart.
