I guess you could say that I will always be a daddy's girl. As an adult, when I would go to visit my family, I would always find myself hugging my daddy as I sat in his lap, smothering him with sharp little peck-like kisses. He was a sweet and loving man with an awesome personality. He loved people. Everyone he met he would introduce himself to and would never fail to introduce his family. He was always so proud to say, "this is my wife Pauline and this is my son, David, he works for NASA you know? And this is my oldest son, Blais, he lives in Houston. This is my daughter Denise, isn't she just beautiful? This is my daughter, Diane. I call her my snook. She is from Rhode Island, where my wife and I were born." He was a hard working man, proud of his family and in love with life. There are so many little girls that don't grow up with a father. There are so many children that lose their parent(s) early in life. I am so thankful that I had him in my life as long as I did. He is one of the main reasons that I became the self sufficient, confident, hard working adult that I did. Thank you for all that you provided to our family daddy, you will be forever missed and eternally cherished.
In 1976 we were shocked to hear from my mother and father that we were moving to El Paso Texas. We had lived in Rhode Island our whole lives! I was 10.
A gift to my brother and I to ease the pain, was a Spider Man shirt with my name on it, and an Incredible Hulk shirt with my brother's name on it.
I was scared to move there a little, to give up city life, for a life where everyone had guns, rode horses, and all the roads were dirt.
I remember 3 long days in the car, and though I was scared, my father kept telling us how awesome it was when he went to visit it, and we would love it. He was right. I remember the first night driving through the Eastern Seaboard, Virginia, Washington DC, North Carolina etc, and we pulled over for the night in North Carolina. Dad was as calm as could be with 4 kids, ages 10, 9, 7, and 6 and a wife in the car.
It was not until some years later, maybe I was 25, maybe 30, that he told me, "I remember driving down the eastern seaboard the first night, and thinking to myself.... Richard, what the hell are you doing?.... " He was moving away from family, friends, and the city he grew up in and and lived in for 40 years. If anything that taught me an important lesson. Make up your mind and do it.
