Shi'Ta

I run like my father.

I remember getting up when there was still no light in the sky, shi'ma washing my face with a wet rag. My brother and I were loaded into the car with my dad, and we both promply fell asleep.

I remember being among a crowd of half-naked people, even though it was like 60 degrees and no sun.

All of a sudden they all took off running.

I must have been 5.

I remember the sun cracking the sky wide with its light, and stopping here and there but I don't really remember why.

I do remember having a red bandana tied around my head and seeing shi'ta come striding in, a smile cracking his otherwise serious face. The salt had made his face white and his shirt was wet all the way through. I remember running and thinking, I could do that just like dad.

My first, but not last, memory of seeing my Dad run.

He would run on the dirt roads of Old San Carlos, the sandy, tan dips and hills for at least 6 miles each day.

My dad could run.

He ran so light and easy, you wouldn't even hear him except for his breathing and the swish swish of the dirt in his wake. He ran like a deer, quick, fast footfalls broken only by the soft balls of sand. He always looked straight ahead, seeing nothing but seeing everything. He told me later that he would run to get away from everthing, his stressors, his dreams, his obligations, it was his freedome and secret lover.

Even then, he never let me win.

I would try to race him, he would let me catch up, but never give in to me. He said, why let you win when it wasn't the truth. I love that about him.

People always say that I am just like him. From his eyes, to his mouth, to his blunt and competitive attitude. I am my father's daughter.

Now that I am older, I know that he, like myself, if full of faults. He is quick to anger, just like me, and quick to snap out his opinions, like me.

He is not perfect, but he is the best father that I could ever ask for.

He has taught me to be kind, to appreciate what I have and what I am capable of, to never give up, to go forward with my dreams, to never say can't, to be generous, to give and receive love, to FORGIVE.

There is so much more I could write, but I don't have to. I know my love in my heart, and he does too.

Happy Birthday Daddy..(and shi'ma too!!!)

--YES THEY ARE BORN ON THE SAME DAY...so is my Godfather, James M., and my Uncle, Lorenzo N. ......trip eh?-----------------------------