Our Dad--Deddy

My dad--we call him Deddy--passed away in 2006.  I think my siblings and I felt a little like orphans when we got the sudden news that he had passed away while he was living in China.  
So when my older sister (we'll call her The Phoenix) sent this email to me and my siblings on Father's Day, it was a nice way to remember him:

Yesterday was Father's day and it got me thinking of all the goofy things I miss about Deddy.

My dad praying to the rain gods for rain in Halchita, Utah

Do you remember when...

Deddy sat on the couch and slapped his feet together and pretended to be a walrus?

Deddy snored so loudly that no one but him got any sleep, especially when we were jammed all together in a small hotel room?

We all spent a wonderful 4th of July together, starting at the Parade and ending at the Creamery watching fireworks, with our radio blaring the music? Also, backing the gold van into the parking space, so we could leave first?

We've always LOVED fireworks!

Singing opera music in the shower? 

Anyway, always missing him. Even though he was wacky, we all got a little bit of his wackiness. Just look at us...

Dimples is wondering why Eisenhower, my brother, has a bowl on his head

Orange-y smiles!

Eisenhower and I doing some dancing and jumping

Jem the Rocker was always a rocker

My dad only had one quarter--we had to make the most of it!

I agree with my sister--we are all pretty crazy!  My youngest sister, Jem the Rocker, replied back with this:

Or how much he loved Neil Diamond, Peter Paul and Mary and sang Sound of Music songs.

I especially liked when he would pull me and "Eisenhower" behind the bug with a sled for our paper route in the winter. 

My dad with Eisenhower

My oldest sister, Dimples, then said:

I remember when he would have us call the dr's office or insurance company or the store to find out something and then we would hand the phone back to him to actually talk to the person. It taught me not to be scared at talking to people.  

I remember how he would always tell us to eat bone soup and always would have ice cream in the freezer, even in the winter. 

Or how he would let us on his UTA bus and we would pretend to surf while he was driving. I guess we did that in the Chan Clan Tan Van too.  

That's the Chan Clan Tan Van in the background

Or how we converted the Chan Clan Tan Van to a little store and drive to different events on the reservation and sell stuff to people.  

Or how we would all try really hard to beat him at Mahjong and sometimes we would. It would always drive me nuts when he would have his pieces upside down when I was watching him play his hand. 

The entire family

Believe me, it was sure fun and always interesting with my dad.   I wish Lee could have met my dad--I think they would have gotten along.


Happy Father's Day!