Beautiful words

Last night I made a big pot of Al's Split Pea & Ham Soup to share with all my kids. It was nice last night, as the aroma filled my kitchen it brought back warm memories of my husband. He loved to make certain dishes to share with our family....Texas Chili made all the better with spicy chorizo and this soup. There was nothing better than coming home from work and opening the door to that smell. Of course, it also meant coming in to the kitchen to a bit of a mess that true to my husband, was left for me to clean up. :)

So last night as I was making his soup I started to remember his memorial service. I saved these beautiful words that were said by my daughter Lesley and my daughter-in-law Ali. I share them with you now.

First from Lesley:
As many of you know, my dad was quite the character. He had a great sense of humor, told lots of jokes, and he was known to stir the pot. On the outside, he was tough and intimidating but inside he had a huge heart and always had the backs of the people he cared about. My dad was someone you would not want to mess with and you definitely did not mess with his family. I remember when I was growing up he always used to say, “I don’t take shit from anyone.” Those of you who knew him best know this to be a true statement. It’s something he instilled in me, my brother and my sister.

My dad taught me a lot. He taught me to always be myself and to be proud of who I am. He told me that I should always stand up for what I believe in; to be strong and never let anyone talk down to me. He was very protective of his family and he made it his goal to teach us how to protect ourselves for when he was not around. He wanted to make sure that his kids knew how to fight. He taught me, my brother and my sister how to throw a punch as well as how to take one. He reminded us that we should never throw the first punch but that we should always be the one to throw the last. To be honest, I think he kind of enjoyed when one of us got ourselves in trouble at school because it was an opportunity to defend us even if he knew we were wrong.

Sure, my dad was a bit of a bad ass and liked people to think that about him but he was also very loving, generous and funny. He was a tender man who would do anything for his family. I mean anything. He taught us that family was the most important thing in life and to always stick together.

We never had much money growing up but my dad more than made up for that in the way he loved us and spent time with us. I have very fond memories of him taking us kids golfing when we were little, well – he golfed, we drove the golf cart. There were a few times when we missed the bridge, almost ran over someone or came very close to tipping the cart over. It may sound silly to some, but a treat for the Navarro kids was when Dad would take us to the dump. He made even the worst chores fun. It was pretty exciting for us little kids to see the giant pile of trash and watch Dad empty the bed of the pickup. He would always make us laugh in the car ride with his silly jokes and it was a tradition to end the trip at Miller’s Market for snacks.

As my brother, sister and I became teens, the Navarro house was always the house where everyone hung out. There were many parties over the years there and my dad was just one of the guys. New Years Eve parties were a tradition at our house, something my dad enjoyed very much. Some years the parties were huge and crazy, other years more subdued. At midnight, the sky would light up as several Christmas trees would go up in flames in the backyard firepit. This coming New Years will be the last one for my dad. As the Christmas trees go up at the stroke of midnight, some of my dad’s ashes will be in there too, just as he requested.

As you all know there was never a dull moment around my dad. I could go on forever about all the wonderful times I had with him and all the things I learned from him. I am so lucky to have had him as a dad. I would not be the person I am today if it had not been for him. Much of his personality lives on today in me and my brother, sister and mom.

And Ali:
On October 11, 1988, Al turned 40 years old...the same day, his mother passed away. The Navarro family is very close, and it was devastating to lose the family matriarch, especially on a milestone birthday. This was such a depressing time for Al, so much that he began to feel there was nothing to look forward to. The family traveled back to Arizona, stopping along the way to visit Kathy's parents and catch game one of the 1988 World Series, their beloved Dodgers vs. Oakland A's. The Dodgers were down in the bottom of the 9th, with two outs and no hope of winning. They needed a pinch hitter. Kirk Gibson, once a baseball great, had been in the training room all game with two bad legs and a stomach virus, volunteered to hit. The A's pitcher threw out the three-two pitch, Gibson drove it out to right field winning the game for the Dodgers, who went on to win the World Series.

Al immediately jumped up, screaming and cheering, and almost felt as though he had a new lease on life...once again something to look forward to. And he had a new idol, Kirk Gibson. Marshall shared this story with me when we began dating, before his dad was sick, and could not hold back his emotions then.

Years later, while at the 4th Avenue Street Fair, Al came across a piece of Kirk Gibson memorabilia and had to have it. He became determined to one day meet him, get his autograph and share his story.

Kirk Gibson is now a bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks were scheduled for a spring training game March 13th of this year, and Marshall had been given tickets weeks before. After Al was admitted to hospice, Kathy, Alison and Lesley all reached out to the Arizona Diamondbacks administration, shared their story, and arranged for Marshall to actually meet Kirk Gibson. An employee of the D-Backs met Marshall at the front gate, Marshall in Dodgers attire of course! He escorted Marshall way back to the D-Backs club house, and was gracious and extremely caring... He even hugged Marshall when he told him that Al had passed away that morning. When Mr. Gibson came out, Marshall told him a little bit about Al, how that winning home run had given Al such hope. He told Marshall that he's heard similar stories, and he loves knowing that his home runs effect more than just a scoreboard. He was very quiet at first, but after spending a few minutes with him, Marshall realized that he was emotional because he had experienced this first hand...his own dad had passed away 10 years prior. He put his hand on Marshall's shoulder and gave him a few words of advice to cope. Marshall was receiving advice from one of his dad's idols, it was so surreal. He said to let Al live on in his own life, and that is exactly what Marshall was doing that day. After such a devastating morning, Marshall was able to take a few moments to live for his dad, and his face lit up with pride and admiration. He could absolutely feel that he had just done something SO right. As soon as the pen hit that photo, he could feel his dad smile.