Today my little family of three started a new tradition. One I hope we will continue and maybe even share with more of our relatives. On the year anniversary of his passing, we decided to take a day to honor my dad and all the good memories we have.
Initially, I wanted to do something on a grander scale in memory of dad, but that wasn’t in the cards this time. Maybe next year. I think he would have whole-heartedly approved of today, though.
We started off driving south, along the coast, listening to old cowboy songs. (When I was little, Dad always sang them to me while we ran errands.)
Our first stop was Philz for a snack and delicious ‘Julie’s Ultimate’ coffee & hot cocoa for E. (Dad’s given name was Phil but all his grandkids called him Dando because when Madison began talking she couldn’t quite manage ‘Grandad’ so she shortened it to ‘Dando’ & it stuck.)
Next we hit one of those ‘paint your own’ places to celebrate dad’s love of all kinds of art. E painted a ceramic horse (my dad loved & owned horses) while Chris and I worked on a Christmas ornament. We added dad’s initials to both pieces and I can’t wait to see the finished products!
Of course a trip to a local bookstore was planned - both E and I picked out books. I got a classic, ‘Don Quixote’ and she picked out a book about a wolf. (Dad was a voracious reader and was the one who introduced me to ‘Don Quixote’ so it seemed fitting to re-read it now.)
**I actually called dad collect from Cervantes’ hometown while in Spain years ago. It was probably the most expensive phone call ever, but what a cool memory we shared!
Finally, we’re headed out to enjoy some Mexican food to wrap up the day. (Dad loved this hole-in-the-wall place in our hometown - it’s since shut down - nobody but him regretted that!)
Already planning year 2 of #dandosday.
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