My real Dad, not my Father......

Parklane Mall
The first moment I remember when I met my Dad, I'm  not sure how old I was... I want to say 8 but I must have been younger.  We went to Parklane Mall and he bought me and and my brother a balloon.  Somehow I let go of mine and it went up to the ceiling, Parklane had just been covered Thank God so It was just stuck up on the ceiling.  My Dad (my mom's boyfriend at the time) called maintenance and I remember them bringing a really tall ladder and getting my balloon from the ceiling and then he tied it around my wrist.  I was in love.  At that moment I really wanted him to be my Daddy, since I didn't have one.  Through out the rest of my life as a child, many times if we put a coin in the candy machine and didn't get our prize at Raley's he would call someone over and make sure we got our toy.  At the time it was a bit embarrassing but now I realize it was because he loved us and wanted us to be happy.

Balloons......
When I was 8 years old we moved to Stead , at that time, I think they had gotten married, I remember staying at the babysitters overnight because they were getting married.  I was so excited that I was going to have a Dad!  He bought me a Raggedy Ann doll and I had that doll everywhere I went, until our next door neighbors Phillip and Patrick gave it to their German Shepard to play tug of war.  I was devastated.  My dad went and bought me a Holly Hobby to replace it...I never played with dolls again after that.

Raggedy Ann and Andy

One day I told my Dad how much that doll had meant to me.  I never had anything from my Dad, he was my Dad.  When I was 28 I got pregnant with Stevi and for Mothers Day, we went to the Rock Park and waded in the Truckee River.  Within days I developed a bacterial infection that they couldn't treat because I was pregnant and became very sick.  I was in bed and my Dad came to see me with a care package that had some cans of soup and Ginger ale and in that bag was a Raggedy Ann doll.  I saw that and immediately burst into tears.  It made him cry too.  I had no idea he remembered.  Maybe he didn't, maybe my Mom reminded him, either way, it meant the world to me.

The Cross pen Stevi found in an old pencil box, I think was "taken" from my Dad

When my Dad was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer he was given 2 weeks to live.  We were blessed with 14 months.  In those 14 months, he was able to travel and see his other children back East and we were able to exchange stories and spend time with him, just showing him what he meant to us.  When he got more sick and was on bed rest, I bought him a Raggedy Andy doll to put on his bed and keep him safe.  It stayed on his bed until the day he died.  I now have both those dolls in a special collectors case up on a shelf.  When I die, I want those  cremated with me.  My Dad changed my life, without him, I wouldn't have turned out to be the woman that I am today.  All those memories came flooding back to me tonight when my daughter Stevi, pulled a Cross Pen out of a pencil box she found from 5th grade...........I had to be my Dad's.....I miss my Dad everyday.......I love you Dad.....Thank you for the balloon, the Raggedy Ann dolls and for the wonderful huge family I now have because of you......

My Dad and my sister Sarah, in Vermont ( he was sick but feeling well)