First of all, a big thank you to my Dad, for all of his patience (and you can imagine, he had to have had a lot to raise me!!), dedication, love, understanding and incredible listening skills...I wouldn't be here right now without him...
The bambini wanted to make a big deal out of today...but I woke up way before them (thanks for the 6:05 a.m. text Kenny - you know, we are 3 hours earlier out here than on the east coast) and Bella and I ran hard through the desert. We saw a jack rabbit that was nearly as large as Bella, which freaked her out a bit. She prefers to see the regular bunnies that pop out of the bushes as we run, causing her to rear up like a stallion. She's funny.
Autumn woke first and presented me with a card, that she proudly had secretely purchased at the Hobie surf shop in Laguna:
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What a beautiful card...the boys came out soon and all three were very morose, down and I asked them why? "We didn't get a chance to buy you any presents." they all said...they were horrified that they couldn't figure out a way to get to the store! Although Autumn was able to conceal this card when she was purchasing postcards in Laguna, it was always Kim who would sneak them out when I was working to be able to pick something special out for me...I told them that they were my present, that I had all that I needed. Cody tried to slip me $5.00. Tonio made me a cheetah out of Legos. And Autumn made me a new book marker. See? It's all good (although I would not accept the $5.00 : ) ).
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Autumn's little bundle of hand made book marks! One says '#1 Dad', one says 'Books' and one, with paw prints on it, says "Penn State". Precious, every one.
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Of course, it being Sunday, we ran over to Viro's, where Rosa and Vito had a little breakfast with us. Little? They expanded their huge Sunday buffett, somehow making it more gargantuan than it already is. I was in trouble. I always over eat and there I was starting off my morning with a big bowl of peel your own shrimp. They also had a nacho bar, several types of chicken, extra desserts (including the BEST eclairs I've ever had - and I used to eat a Tastyclair EVERY day in high school - which is an eclair made by Tastykake. Somebody send me some of those!!). After the shrimp, I had my tradional omelet (with the hot, crushed peppers blend), deviled eggs, seasoned potatoes (how do they do that?), cappuccino (nicely done Christie!), etc. The bambini all had Italian wedding soup, to compliment their omelets and pastries.
We gorged ourselves and went to Mass at St. Pius, where the Knights of Columbus hauled us up in front of the congregation, to present a check to Nancy Kirk from Carondelet - she's the lady that administers Kimmy's Foundation...I thought the check was going to be for $2,700 and the Knights surprised us by upping it to $3,200!! So, between Janene's Kut-a-Thon and the Knights raffle, the fund received $5,400 over the last two weeks!! Amazing. Father Harry gave a great Mass, giving the bambini hugs and kisses and the reading was John 3:16 today...so appropriate, talking about a father's love and the sacrifices they are willing to make...I got it.
The bambini wanted to go back to Viro's for gelato, so we dragged Nancy there with us and they all ate another bowl of wedding soup, before digging into gelato - well, Cody had tirimasu - he has a sophisticated pallet, apparently. I opted for ice tea...as the feeding frenzy from the morning still lingered in my memory...and my tummy...How cool is it, that on Father's Day, I get to go to my favorite restaurant - twice!
And, I always say, that my situation could be worse - I'm reminding of that daily and am thankful for what I have and for those of you in my life helping me out. The head chef at Viro's, Dave, came out to say hi and Happy Father's Day - I asked him if he had any children, he's about my age. He said no, his wife was unable to bear children. Dave had been very supportive when he heard Kimmy was sick, and gave consolation when Kimmy passed - today, he told me that his wife had passed away from cancer, too. Five years ago, he told me, as he began to tear up...she was healthy too, just like Kim...one day, she got pretty sick, they sent her to the hospital and found she was overwhelmed with cancer. She died three days later. Three days. That was very sobering. I got to enjoy Kim's company for 55. I have nothing to complain about. I am blessed to have the bambini. And I told him, I don't know what I'd do without them. He told me, you'd go crazy for about a year, like I did. My heart went out to him - he was able to tell me he knows how I feel... It's amazing how many lives that b.s. disease has touched with its dark, malignant hand....
Back to the light!
Nancy said that Kim's Foundation is has just over $7,000 in it right now (thank you all for your support and generosity!!) and they are going to decide, with the nurses and admistration of St. Jospeph's, on purchasing a necessary piece of equipment for the hospital. They are so excited!
Initially, I remember passing through the hallways of St. Joseph's and seeing benches, paintings and statues with plaques on them 'in memory of'...thinking something like that would be nice - but, in thinking it through over the months, decided that would not be "Kim". She used to like to say to me "well, this is nice, Dave, but is it functional?", whenever we were shopping for something for our home...yes, 'functional'...that's more "Kimmy"...Nancy said the piece of equipment will have a plaque put on it with Kimmy's name...
Now, my challenge will be to keep Kimmy's Foundation funded - if anyone has any experience in the area of fundraising - I'm all ears!
But sincerely, thank you to all of you for everything. Thank you to all of you father's out there, who make a difference in the lives of our children. And thank you Father, for reminding me of all that I am blessed with and the sacrifices You've made for me, so that I can be here doing what I'm doing....
Happy Father's Day,
Love,
Dave
PS and when Autumn asked me how my Father's Day was going, I told her 'You've made it the best ever...'
The bambini wanted to make a big deal out of today...but I woke up way before them (thanks for the 6:05 a.m. text Kenny - you know, we are 3 hours earlier out here than on the east coast) and Bella and I ran hard through the desert. We saw a jack rabbit that was nearly as large as Bella, which freaked her out a bit. She prefers to see the regular bunnies that pop out of the bushes as we run, causing her to rear up like a stallion. She's funny.
Autumn woke first and presented me with a card, that she proudly had secretely purchased at the Hobie surf shop in Laguna:
And Antonio proudly present this cheetah to me...
We gorged ourselves and went to Mass at St. Pius, where the Knights of Columbus hauled us up in front of the congregation, to present a check to Nancy Kirk from Carondelet - she's the lady that administers Kimmy's Foundation...I thought the check was going to be for $2,700 and the Knights surprised us by upping it to $3,200!! So, between Janene's Kut-a-Thon and the Knights raffle, the fund received $5,400 over the last two weeks!! Amazing. Father Harry gave a great Mass, giving the bambini hugs and kisses and the reading was John 3:16 today...so appropriate, talking about a father's love and the sacrifices they are willing to make...I got it.
The bambini wanted to go back to Viro's for gelato, so we dragged Nancy there with us and they all ate another bowl of wedding soup, before digging into gelato - well, Cody had tirimasu - he has a sophisticated pallet, apparently. I opted for ice tea...as the feeding frenzy from the morning still lingered in my memory...and my tummy...How cool is it, that on Father's Day, I get to go to my favorite restaurant - twice!
And, I always say, that my situation could be worse - I'm reminding of that daily and am thankful for what I have and for those of you in my life helping me out. The head chef at Viro's, Dave, came out to say hi and Happy Father's Day - I asked him if he had any children, he's about my age. He said no, his wife was unable to bear children. Dave had been very supportive when he heard Kimmy was sick, and gave consolation when Kimmy passed - today, he told me that his wife had passed away from cancer, too. Five years ago, he told me, as he began to tear up...she was healthy too, just like Kim...one day, she got pretty sick, they sent her to the hospital and found she was overwhelmed with cancer. She died three days later. Three days. That was very sobering. I got to enjoy Kim's company for 55. I have nothing to complain about. I am blessed to have the bambini. And I told him, I don't know what I'd do without them. He told me, you'd go crazy for about a year, like I did. My heart went out to him - he was able to tell me he knows how I feel... It's amazing how many lives that b.s. disease has touched with its dark, malignant hand....
Back to the light!
Nancy said that Kim's Foundation is has just over $7,000 in it right now (thank you all for your support and generosity!!) and they are going to decide, with the nurses and admistration of St. Jospeph's, on purchasing a necessary piece of equipment for the hospital. They are so excited!
Initially, I remember passing through the hallways of St. Joseph's and seeing benches, paintings and statues with plaques on them 'in memory of'...thinking something like that would be nice - but, in thinking it through over the months, decided that would not be "Kim". She used to like to say to me "well, this is nice, Dave, but is it functional?", whenever we were shopping for something for our home...yes, 'functional'...that's more "Kimmy"...Nancy said the piece of equipment will have a plaque put on it with Kimmy's name...
Now, my challenge will be to keep Kimmy's Foundation funded - if anyone has any experience in the area of fundraising - I'm all ears!
But sincerely, thank you to all of you for everything. Thank you to all of you father's out there, who make a difference in the lives of our children. And thank you Father, for reminding me of all that I am blessed with and the sacrifices You've made for me, so that I can be here doing what I'm doing....
Happy Father's Day,
Love,
Dave
PS and when Autumn asked me how my Father's Day was going, I told her 'You've made it the best ever...'
Once again you remind us to be thankful for all that we have. You and your kids have a wonderful way of looking on the bright side when others in your situation can not.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear about all the wonderful things Kimmy's Foundation will bring to those in need.
Happy Father's Day!