A year after Teresa passed away, a good friend of his from Cuba, sent him a letter that her best friend had just moved to the US from Cuban and lived nearby. He had her and her family over and this is how my dad met my mom. They were married in 1973 in a catholic wedding in Newark, NJ. My mom worked at a few pastry shops and in 1975, she was pregnant. My dad asked her not to work and started teaching her to drive. I grew up in the the house he bought with Teresa, it's where my mom lived with him. That house had a garage and there was a dent in the metal railing that I learned, she had done trying to back up their 1974 red 2 door Oldsmobile Delta 88. That car was red and huge! My dad had it until I was 5 and I still remember it with the plastic covered interior. He said he was livid when she had hit the garage door railing. I remember the story.

My dad says he spent the happiest time in his life with my mom. They took trips together and even went to Caesar's palace in the Pocono’s. He had a corny picture of the glass Jacuzzi. My mom went into labor while my dad was working; he could not get there in time and met her at the hospital. She passed away of an allergic reaction with the epidural. He says the last time he saw her, she had already passed. My dad was shocked and now had an infant which he had never had any experience with. After making the decision to keep me, he considered letting my mom's best friend raise me, he moved my grandmother and uncle in to help him take care of me. They were my mom's side of the family since his family was all in Cuba.

He married someone a year and a half after my mom passed away. The marriage lasted less than 6 months. Her son who lived with them was a drug addict and stole from him. He said that he was never ok with being alone and he really wanted me to have a mother.

A little over 3 years after my mom passed away, he married my step mother. My dad was wonderful to her even when she was not the same to him. She worked but what she made was hers and he supported our household on his own. He came home every day at 4:30 and picked me up at the day care 3 blocks away. I remember skipping home while he walked or telling him all about my day on those walks. I often fell in the snow and once in awhile, we would play in the snow. I was never aware of his age.

My dad would take me to the park almost every day when the weather was nice. He was the most loving person, I have ever known. Every morning he would get up at 5, make my step mother Cuban coffee and serve it to her just how she liked it in bed. He would make me fresh squeezed orange juice, every morning from as far back as I can remember until 3 weeks before he passed away and wake me with it. I still love fresh squeezed orange juice and I think about him every time I have it. I remember dancing with my dad to a Julio Iglesias song - De Nina a mujer - From a girl to a woman. It would make me happy and he would get sad. I remember him teaching me to drive and how I would scare him by driving fast or getting too close to the curb. He was pretty patient with me. He was also really protective of me and would not let me do much. Until we had our talk at 15 and he realized he could trust me. He made me promise to talk to him and I always did. I remember getting upset when I got made fun of in school and waiting until I saw my dad to cry and tell him about it.

When I turned 16 he bought me a 3 year old camry and made me talk to the car dealer and negotiate the price. He was always trying to prepare me for the future, a future he knew he would not be a part of. By 16, I knew how to balance a check book and pay bills and I knew the basics of what little cooking he knew. He showed me how to change the oil in my car and how to change a tire.

I remember the things I said that hurt him and I wish I could take them back. I remember feeling that my step mother's words and hitting were his fault because he allowed it and telling him that I thought it was his fault. I was 16 and he decided to move out. He got a part time job at 73 years of age so that he could afford a bigger payment should he have to sell our house when he left my step mother. He did not want me to work until it was necessary. He got sick the first day of the job and never made it in, he past away within 3 weeks. He was willing to do anything for my happiness, not so much his own. Until he got sick I never realized how old he was, how little time he had left and I had left with him. He seemed so strong. We would play softball and he could hit the ball out of the park. When we played tennis he would dive for balls. I wish I had realized how valuable time was. Hind site is always 20/20.

I wonder if there are still men like this, that adore their children that work hard and are faithful to their families.