Today would be the 12th anniversary of my father’s death. I am going to try and not make this post so morbid. But for some reason on this day I cannot help but write about my dad. It really is so crazy how fast time has gone. I’m sure my story is like many others who have gone through something like this, but my memory of this day is so vivid. I don’t know why my memory likes to hang on to something so painful. I sometimes wish I could be one of those people who tend to block out bad memories, but that would not be the case.
Although there are many negative personality traits that I remember about my father, I try to focus on all the good things that he left me with. As I have gotten older I have found myself only bringing up the bad points of my father’s life when I want to be able to empathize with people about what they have either gone through or are going through.
So in honor of my father, David Wallace Miranda-and to share with you a little bit about why I am the way I am today-here are some amazing things that my dad either passed on to me or an amazing memory I have of him.
Sports. My dad was a huge sports fan. The top 3 would have to be football, baseball, and basketball. Some of it rubbed off on me and some of it did not.
Football. My dad was a Bengals fan. No idea why. But for me being a little girl and watching sports I tended to pick my teams a little different from the way most people do. I chose the Dolphins, because that was my favorite animal and the Cowboys, because I loved their cheerleaders, lol. Shallow and innoncent reasons as a little girl, but what’s so amazing is that I have kept those teams ever since. And now with me living in Texas I cannot wait to go see the Cowboys in person and in their beautiful new stadium.
College football was probably a little more important to my dad. He was a big Notre Dame fan.I remember on Saturday mornings, you could hear my father screaming at the TV from down the street. And you definitely knew if they scored by his loud clap, which I have inherited. I have no idea how he became a ND fan either, but this one definitely rubbed off on me. I loved ND football. Rudy is my favorite movie. And on my bucket list (I don’t have an official one, but if I did this would be on it) I want to go see ND play in South Bend.
Baseball. I bleed Dodger blue. And this season is proving to be a good one…I’m just hoping my team will show everyone that we are more than just Manny.
The Dodgers were my dad’s team. It really is hilarious when looking at the teams that either my family or I love, really has not correlation to where we live. More times than not, people choose their teams based on location, but that is not the case for us. I lived in northern CA my entire life and there is not one team that I cheered for (unless you count the Rivercats) and except for in basketball.
Basketball-growing up in the 80’s & 90’s, the teams I remember cheering for would have to be the Chicago Bulls (Jordan), Boston Celtics (Bird), the Utah Jazz (Malone & Stockton) and every once in awhile the Phoenix Suns (Barkley). It wasn’t until I moved from the Bay Area to the Sacramento area that I chose to become a Kings fan and I still stand behind them. Even if they were the worst team in the NBA this season. I’m hoping one day in the near future we will re-build and put our name back on the map.
Sporting events were the best with Dad. When I was in elementary school he would check me out of school on my birthday and take me to an A’s game. What dad wouldn’t love to be able to take his daughter to something he loved so much. Another birthday memory would have to be taking me mini golfing. That’s a sport right? One of my favorite things to do. If you are ever in Castro Valley, CA hit it up. It might have changed, but it was one of the best courses ever. And one more minor sport memory, my family has always been way into bowling. my parents were on leagues forever. I don’t know about my dad, but my mom has gotten a perfect 300 twice. For Christmas one year my sister and I got our own bowling balls and shoes. We don’t mess around 🙂
Besides sporting events I can remember my dad helping me with the sports that I played in. For the first part my life I was not into playing sports myself. I was much more of a girlie girl and was interested in modeling and twirling baton.
This is not me, but I found this picture on Google images and it cracked me up, so I thought I would share it with you all.
When I reached junior high I decided to play basketball. My dad loved helping me with the skills and even though I only played on the CSD team, I was asked to play on a special league after and that made my dad proud. Unfortunately it was in that second season that my dad passed away and I chose to not go on playing without my father in the stands, yelling at the ref. and getting kicked out.
This has turned into quite a long story time. I do apologize. I only cracked open a small bit of the memories of my father, but there is always time to share. If you want to share a story of a loved one that has passed feel free to use my comment boxes to give voice to those memories.
I do have another post I am working on in my drafts about my CA visit and my new job, I just haven’t had time to finish it, so hopefully either tonight after the Lost finale or tomorrow I will get that up.
So until next time…PEACE OUT!
PS Happy Birthday Spunk Ransom 😉
The One... 