For My Dad

Had a good day yesterday. I made tilapia for dinner with some steamed spinach and stuffed mushrooms. Dave really liked the fish. I used the Garlic, Lemon and Rosemary Crusting Blend from McCormick's. After dinner I did crunches (70!) and a little Wii Karate and Hula hoop. Silly me forgot to put my bugg back on when I did my exercising. Oh well...


Me at 4 years old

This is me when I was 4 years old. I was Daddy's little girl. Sweet and still innocent.

Katie and Dad 1987 (I was 21)

 This is a picture of my dad and I in 1987. I was 21. Even though I am adopted, people often said we looked alike.


April 12, 2000 (I was 34)

This was 11 years ago today. My mother, aunt and I went to Santa Cruz to spend the day to memorialize the anniversary of his death.

It was a Tuesday night at 8:32 p.m when he died. April 12th, 1999. He was scheduled for bypass surgery and died the night before! He was an otherwise healthy man. He did not smoke, drink alcohol or even drink coffee. He ate healthy and was not overweight. However, there was heart disease in his family.

My father, Edward, aka "Eagle" was born in 1930 in Chicago, IL. He met my mom in high school but they actually dated other people at that time. He was a jock and she was a cheerleader. He played minor league baseball after high school but he got drafted to Korea at 19. He was shot in the war and became a paraplegic due to a spinal cord injury. After he came home from the war he and my mom got close and they fell in love and married. They were not able to have children so they adopted my brother and I. My brother is from Chicago and then they moved to California and adopted me. He became involved in a National organization called P.V.A. and he was also on committees for the V.A. which helped with accessibility and funding for spinal cord injury research. He even attended a number of Presidential Inauguration's. He had a wonderful life despite his disability. He was a proud man and always had a smile on his face. He and my mom traveled all over the U.S. He took my mom to Maui every summer and they were married 43 years when he died in '99. He made his mark on this world and it was his time to go.  He loved me like no one else and I miss him dearly. I love you Pops!