Growing up... Father's Day wasn't really a huge holiday in our family. Mother's Day was. But my father was content with hanging out in the garage tinkering with his tools and a special meal prepared by my mom. I kinda wish I had done more than giving him a card with a few sentences written in it, because he shaped me into who I am. He's my idol.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to tell him that numerous times over the years. In fact, I can still hear his response "your mom played a bigger role than me". Honestly... they both did. And even though I'm sad they've both passed away... I'm happy they're together again.
Plus I have plenty of different things to help me remember them. In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to share three of them.
Let's start with the lantern sitting in my friend's front yard. It's a little hard to see above, because my phone was focused on my wallet card. Here's a better shot of it:
I brought this lantern home to my best friend who had a great relationship with my parents. And she was especially good to my father after my mother passed away. I will always be thankful for that. I'm also grateful that I still get to see this lantern whenever I visit her.
The other two items are trading cards I purchased months back:
2024 Topps A&G Got the Itch #GTI10
2024 Topps A&G Got the Itch #GTI9
One of my father's favorite treats was coconut-pineapple ice cream. That's what he'd order when my parents would hit up Thrifty's back in my ice cream scooping days. And that's what he'd get when we went to Lappert's Ice Cream at the California Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
So when Topps produced these scratch and sniff cards last year, I knew I had to buy them. They've been added to the Papa Fuji collection:
Dad... I'm heading over to Rite Aid and grabbing some Thrifty's Coconut-Pineapple ice cream today in your honor.
Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there! I hope you are enjoying your special day with your children.
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
eat a scoop for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat tribute! Just spend Fathers Day morning watching my oldest on the ball diamonds! It was a great Father’s Day treat because he is getting so much older and I know these days are limited!
ReplyDeleteA family trip to Thrifty's for a 5-cent single scoop of ice cream is one of my fondest childhood memories. Mocha Almond Fudge was my parents favorite. Very nice tribute Fuji.
ReplyDeleteSo many ways we can honor and remember our parents. Great post Mark.
ReplyDeleteJust remember that whenever you look at those aroma cards that your dad is there.
ReplyDeleteNice tribute, Fuji!
ReplyDeleteGreat tribute! That ice cream sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteI love these memories of your dad. That lantern is very cool, and it's great that you have a little collection to remember him by.
ReplyDeletejohnnys trading spot - i've had a few ;D
ReplyDeleteuncle charlies shoebox - nice. hope you had fun at the diamond. i was out there too watching my friend's son play in their all-star game.
the angels in order - oh man. 5¢ scoops would be awesome. they were still cheap when i worked there, but i think i'm pretty sure they weren't that cheap.
gcrl - thanks. as long as i'm around, i'll try to find ways to honor them.
poison75 - yup. i've got photos of him and my mom on my fridge and a few around the place, so i'm always thinking of them.
the lost collector - thanks aj!
sumomenkoman - it's only been two days and it's almost gone :D
dennis - the next time i show off my collection of his stuff, it'll probably be simplified. it's starting to get a little too cluttered. then again... that's a family trait :D
Great tribute!
ReplyDelete