I am so grateful that I grew up in southern California.

There were so many things to do beyond

the obvious of the beach and surfing. We also had Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain.
There was skiing in the mountains, and the ATVs in the many sand dunes. My dad also had a large boat
and we traveled up and down the coast spending time together.
My favorite trips with my dad, were anywhere we would go together. My parents were
divorced when I was about 13, the reasons for the divorce didnt matter much to me at the time. My
only concern was will I still get to spend quality time with my dad. I was very angry at my mom and
blamed her for the divorce, for running my dad off. My dad was my best friend and the one person that I
told everything that was happening in my life to. Several months after my dad moved out, he started
dating a family friend, Toni, this sent my mom spinning into a dimension of pissed off and crazy that I
have never seen before. My parents were good friends with Toni and her husband Lee. Toni never had
kids and from the time I was about five, I would spend the summers with her and weekends. She was my
home away from home. When I found out that Toni and my dad were together, I remember going to her
house and telling her in no uncertain terms (Im 13 years old) that she will not be taking my dad from me
and nothing she does will ever come between us and she better not even try (a lot of tears and sobbing
in the delivery of this message).
My dad and I took many trips together, each year we would take a road trip and go to Santa
Clara and buy redwood tables that my dad would finish and sell. We would go to Sacramento each
summer to visit his mom and brother. Even something as simple as having dinner together or just
stopping by to say HI always made my heart happy. My dad has always been the most important man in
my life. I was always daddys little girl, the apple of his eye he would tell me.
One of my favorite times spent with my dad was one of our trips was to Catalina, an island
about 26 miles from Long Beach. I loved helping him do the grocery shopping, I got to pick out what
food we would cook together. We would get the boat loaded with our personal items, diving gear and
fishing equipment. I remember how excited I would get as we took the stuff down the dock, the sound
of the cart rolling across the lines on the dock carrying our things. The seagulls everywhere looking for
food, trying to take food from our cart. I knew that this was going to be another amazing journey with
my dad.

We would stop to fuel up the boat and the dingy and we were off on our adventure. We would
stop at the bait barge and buy bait to fish. The man that worked the bait barge always scared me, he
didnt have any teeth and he always smelled really bad, like he took a bath in sweat and fish water, ugh.
My dad would teach me about boating and safety. I learned how to call the coast guard in the event of
an emergency. I learned PORT (left side of the boat) and STARBOARD (right side). I remembered this
because LEFT has the same amount of letters as PORT.
The sound of the waves as the boat crashed through them. The white caps on the tops of the
swells. The skies are so blue with the occasional white cloud. At night the phosphorous would glow
green on the water as the waves would crash. The salty air was so drying to my skin. The wind would
blow the taste of salt in the air.
Occasionally we would see a pod of whales that was always such a treat. I remember telling my
dad to keep up with them but we never could, my dad said our boat was not built for speed, but before
they would leave us they would entertain themselves with us by circling the boat, coming up for air
snacking their tail fin on the water. We would also see Dolphins from time to time. I remember when I
was learning how to surf, I was sitting on my board getting instructions on what to do next and about 10
dolphins started swimming around us. They were not aggressive with us and seemed to want to play
almost. They are amazing creatures.
My dad would let me take the wheel and it was the best feeling to know that my dad would
trust me enough to drive. I smile now when I think about that and realize that there was nothing I
could hurt that far out in the ocean.
My dads best friend, Dr. Bob, met us in Catalina. We would get slips next to each other in
Avalon Harbor. We had to launch the dingy to get ashore. While on the island we would rent golf carts
and go from one side to the other. My dad would take me para sailing, he would just watch me he did
not want to try this himself. I would drive the gold cart while my dad and Dr. Bob would go golfing.
Dr. Bob taught me how to scuba dive while we were in Long Beach and we would go diving for
Abalone off the shore of the Isthmus and Twin Harbors. When I was learning to scuba dive (in a
controlled environment) I was fearless and none of it scared me. My first dive in the open ocean was a
different kind of fear. It was a mix of pure excitement to see the marine life and the fear of being eaten
by a shark. The first time I saw a shark it came up behind me, Dr. Bob was in front of me motioning to

me to drop the abalone bag that I had. I was not sure why he was doing this and I turned to the left and
there it was, my first shark. Then I understood why he wanted me to drop the abalone bag, the shark
was curious about it. I dropped the bag and started for the top. Dr. Bob was motioning for me to slow
down, not to go up so quick. My heart was racing so fast that I thought I was going to pass out. All I
could think about was getting out of this water and back to the safety of the boat, JAWS was after me.
After I was back on the boat I was told that the shark was a 5 foot adolescent. It was probably just
curious about what we were doing but in my mind it was 15 feet and all teeth.
My dad was scared when I told him what happened, after all I am his baby girl and the reality
loosing me to a shark attack never really occurred to him until that moment. The next morning we went
diving again and when the fear past, it was such a beautiful thing. We brought up something like 100
abalone. My dad would clean them and get them ready for storage. We could not get caught bringing
that many back, during the season we could only have something like 10 so we tossed the extra shells
over the side and I never told anyone until years later, I did not want my dad to get in trouble. I dont
think the coastguard ever boarded our boat on our trips to Catalina.
On our way home I even enjoyed cleaning the boat, packing up our stuff because I knew it
made my dad happy and that is really all I ever wanted to do was make my had happy and proud of me.
I was always very sad as we came back to Long Beach, I knew that I had to say good bye to my
dad even if it was just for a few days. I lived with my mom but only ever wanted to spend time with my
dad. My dad always made time for me, in fact I think I saw him more after the divorce. My mom and I
had a strained relationship for quite a few years. Today my mom and I are amazing and she is a very
important part of my life. I think I probably still blame her for the divorce but today it doesnt matter to
me anymore.
My dad was diagnosed with bone cancer in his neck on Valentines Day, 2008 and passed away
on February 20, 2008, just 6 days later. I did not get a chance to say good bye to my dad, my step mom,
Toni, for whatever reason did not call me to say he was in the hospital. This was probably the hardest
paragraph of this story to write. My dads birthday is in September and this is always a hard month for
me. Each year I reflect back on the many things we have done, some of them make me cry but they all
bring a smile to my face and a warmth in my heart.