Cappy's Corner

This tribute is dedicated to my Dad, which I lovingly call Daddy, even though I am a big girl now. What do I remember about my Daddy? When I was very young I remember Daddy working two jobs to give us everything we wanted. We had our own homemade pool, patio, and he borrowed a roller coaster for us. We would go fishing down the tamiami trail and go cane pole fishing, that was before there was anything on that road. That's even before the turnpike was built.

We would go to work with my dad when he had a landscape business, me and my two sisters, June and Cheryl. We worked hard and being teenagers we didn't want to work with dad on a Saturday morning. I remember my sister Cheryl wrestling dad, and when she got older she got the best of him.

Dad was like most dad's always there when you needed him, offering the best advice he could. Always telling us that we could do anything we wanted. He really wanted boys, so we had the opportunity to learn everything, even the icky boy stuff, oil changes, laying block, mowing the lawn, taking out the trash. We were all relieved when my brother Charles was born, even though he was treated like the prince of the castle. Today as I look back on the skills I learned I can only say thanks Daddy, I can do it.

More recently Dad and I could do a little traveling together, we spent a few days fishing in Bimini and had a blast, we caught tons of fish, the hard part was the trip home, the seas were so rough that the other boaters were leaving their boats and flying home. I decided we could do it, Dad will say it was ten foot seas, but maybe that's a little exaggeration. All I know is his knuckles had to be cramped up from gripping the rail for 3 hours or so. I think he wanted to kiss the ground when we arrived back home.

We made a fantastic trip for a week to Costa Rica, we fished, toured all the really cool places and played in the jungle along with the Hot Springs and Spa, where Dad bought his buddies drinks on my tab. Dad was never alone for a moment, he is quite the chick magnet. Just got to love him.

These are just some of the fond memories that I have with Dad. Never hesitated to give love and hugs, I will always be his little girl. Even though I am old as dirt now.

Through good times and bad, I have been so lucky to have Dad. Hope every Father has a fantastic Father's Day. Sit back and do what ever you want to do, this is your Day.