Idaho 1971

I was eleven years old and we were all going to Idaho.  Momma, Daddy, us, and Grandma and Granpa Garcia.  Daddy had a white ford pickup with a huge, I mean huge camper shell.  It hung over the top and the back end.  Kind of scary when you think of it now, but their wasn't so many road restrictions regarding weight, seatbelts, or even carrying people in the back.  Well the day comes and according to Aunt Alex we should'nt hit any snow, it was the first week of October and they didn't expect snow for a couple of weeks.  So we leave, Daddy driving, momma in the center and Grandma passenger.  Granpa got in the back with the rest of us and of course me and badoll get carsick, so a couple of hours out were throwing up, grandpa just shaking his head.  But daddy pulls over, we throw-up, then keep going.  We would eventually fall asleep and stop the throwing up.  We finally get to Walla Walla, Washington but we were lost, suppose to have gone to Walla, Washington.  Who names their towns this?  Anyway, the snow that wasn't suppose to happen, "it was snowing."  We stayed the night in Washington, we get to the hotel and it was for daddy and momma ONLY.  The rest of us ran in, while he waved us in one at a time from the top stairs.  We'd better run up fast too, or we'd get the look.  Except grandma, grandpa - I don't remember if they got their own room or snuck in too, but we were tired and knocked out quick.  Early next morning we leave again,  I think me and badoll were still yellow or greeen from all the car sickness but we were still excited.  It was now snowing nonstop.  Ten hours later we finally make it to Bonners Ferry, Idaho.  Man ....it took us almost 20+ hours to get there.  They lived 20 miles from the Canadian/British Columbia Victoria Islands.  When we drove up to their house, it was a two story white wood house, with a full-size basement and the backdoor faced the highway.  They owned land around the house and across the highway.  You couldn't even see the closest house around them.  No near next door neighbor.  They have to take the bus to school.  We coudn't even conceptulize this.  Who takes the bus? Don't we all walk to school? and then the cousins run outside BAREFOOT in the snow.  We come from Tulare where the summers are 115+ and the winters maybe 35 and we're sitting here in 20 below temps freezing.  Crazy.

Planning Idaho

Soon after his diagnosis, daddy brought up the trip to Idaho again.  He had been talking about taking us for a couple of years now.  Momma and daddy had just gone a few years back and they both spoke of how you could lean over their balcony and throw your pole into the Little Salmon River in their backyard.  "That's how close it was" daddy always said.  He knew Gadiel and David love to fish and would both enjoy it.  Plus he wanted to show the kids the country.  We got to go in 1971 when they lived in Bonners Ferry and now he wanted to take the grandkids.  There was always some work scheduling conflicts the past two years but now he was determined to go and it was going to be in July 2010.  Sounded silly at the time since they had only given him 6-8 months to live.  But daddy said he was going to beat the cancer and would be able to go to Idaho.  So we all agreed we would go and the date to leave was July 2, 2010.  It was only August 2009.  He would call Aunt Alex and arrange it with her.  It was a goal for him and us.  At the time we decided, we still hadn't noticed how momma health was deteriorating, but I don't even think she did either because at the time she was okay with going.  She even seemed excited about it and would tell us about the water and how close it was, but also warned how dangerous it was too.

Father's Day

It's a difficult week for us this year, as I'm sure it will be from now on, but this will be the first year without daddy.  Last year we took him to Hume Lake,momma, me, kids, Badoll & Chris and the kids.  We wanted it to be somewhere nice instead of the basic backyard bbq.  Instead, we took the BBQ to the lake with all the fixings.  Badoll took a hammock which was perfect because as soon as we got there it was set-up, daddy wrapped himself in the blanket, covered his head with a straw haw and went to sleep.  By this time he was having chemo every week and his body along with all the side effects, had lost all resistance to the cold.  Plus last year was colder than it usually is in June.  Although he slept most of the time it was a good day filled with fun for the kids (they got into the lake) and lots of good food to enjoy.  Daddy actually got up and ate and went back to sleep, every once in awhile he would wave his hat around to let us know he was okay.  He was happy and comfortable there and we were all relaxed. 

This year it will definitely be different without him but as the old saying goes, "life goes on" even though it's changed it still goes on.  We all miss you daddy and loved you and still wish things were different but as you told us that last day, "don't worry, your okay."

After the Kidney

After the surgery daddy was home resting for a few days then on to the holidays.  When they did the surgery there was some cancer on the liver, and because they had to move it around and remove some, his liver would be compromised even more since he already had cirrhosis of the liver.  This was the first time we saw his skin turn really yellow.  At the end his skin was a grey mixed with yellow, but for now it was yellow and the doctors said it would take a while to clear up.  The first round of radiation was already done, now it was the first round of chemo pill with all the side effects.  The first round.  There was a list a mile long of side effects, scary to read them but we needed to be aware.  The hair loss wasn't even a issue, actually we think he grew some hairs on the top of his head.  Kind of funny, but the most uncomfortable was the throat and the burning on the tongue and lips.  He got the bone aches, the tiredness. The tiredness, very very tired.  It was hard seeing daddy go through all the changes.  We were use to him being able to get up and go.  Now it was an effort to walk down the hallway, then sleeping was hard.  We would make meals for them, and usually something soft without any spices, momma couldn't have the spices either.  At first we/he thought the spices were what made his mouth burn more, but eventually it was just anything that touched his tongue and mouth area.  Some mornings I would go and make homemade butter biscuits,  Soups, abondigas and chicken, he would cool down before eating, and no tomatoes, just carrots and potatoes with the meat and very little salt.  They gave him a throat spray but it didn't help the taste of food, food had a metallic taste too.  Badoll would bring meals, Christina would make cocido.  But this was still the beginning of the weight loss, which by the end was significant and sadly noticeable.  But even with all this he tried to keep his goal of making through the cancer and fighting with everything he could.  STARBUCKS helped a lot, he loved to have strawberry frappacinos, something Christina introduced him too.  They were cool and sweet, diabetes sugar levels weren't even a priority by now.

Get the kidney out!

By this time he had already had a minor surgery to get a sample of the tumor on his right shoulder and put a metal bar inside his right upper arm bone connected to the ball joint where the tumor was sitting on.  The goal was to give him some more mobility on his right arm.  It did give him some movement and at least it wasn't just hanging there anymore.

Now a couple of hours before he has his kidney removed we're all with him, we had written daddy a letter on how he enhanced our childhood and made us better people.  We were all scared this would be it.  So was he.  The surgery was a risky surgery.  His right kidney would have to be removed, it was completely encased in a larger tumor. 

Off he goes to surgery, and off we go to the waiting room where several of his sisters and brothers, neices and nephews are waiting also.... four hours later he's doing good, they were able to completely remove the kidney.

The funny part is that when he woke up in surgery he was convinced he was dead because he was surrounded by other patients covered in white sheets, lined up .. and it reminded him of the movie Coma.  Then...none of the family were allowed in yet, but when his cousins, Albert, Sylvia, Norma and Aunt Soccorro just walked in he figured he was still alive.  You had to be there I guess.

Car Shows

Lately we've been getting flyers for the car shows in the area.  Daddy would go to Tulare in the Spring, Clovis Big Hat Days, Clovis Fest, Christmas Parade with the  mustang club.  The last parade, Christmas in Fresno, he had a couple of the grandkids ride with him.  Bethany in the front.  But he also loved the NASCAR, him and Gabe would go to the races.  At the end it was the plan to go again but with the chemo he wasn't up to the trip.

Gabe and daddy always were into some sort of motor vehicle.  Daddy use to race go-carts in Tulare when we were little.  He would build his own motor and car with Gabriel.  Later they started with the dirt bikes, then Gabe started racing.  Momma went to watch once and saw Gabe get hurt and decided she wasn't going to go again to see him get hurt again.  But they continued,  Gabriel happen to get in it when it started to grow in Tulare, so he was one of the first dirt bike racers in the area.  Now it's a big event to watch.  Eventually they started to go to the NASCAR races and the grandkids starting watching them on TV, Samuel would watch them with grandpa and he likes all those race shows; Speed, Pinks, Extreme dirt bikes, and NASCAR.  Samuel even has some of his hot wheels on his stone.  Grandpa has kept his spirit of racing in the kids spirit, among other positive influences.

St. Patricks Day

Ten years ago momma, daddy, me, David, and Esther all drove into San Francisco for the Saint Patrick's Day parade.  Front row seats in front of Union Square.  We had a good time and got to pretend to be Irish for a day.  Plus eat corned beef and cabbage, daddy liked corned beef but especially the cabbage, anytime I made soup; abondigas, cocido, or chicken it had to have a lot of cabbage and carrots.