Mando

Today is the 1-year anniversary of my Stepfather, Armando (Mando) passing away from cancer. He and my Mom were married when I was 15 and living in San Jose. My Mom had been raising my brother and I alone, as a single parent, for 10 years at that time. I always felt that I had to be the man of the house during those years and it was a big change when he joined our household. I remember feeling a great sense of relief at that time like I could be a kid again now that my Mom was taken care of. A pretty silly statement since my Mom kicks butt and did just fine raising us on her own, but I was 15 at the time so what the hell did I know.

One thing I appreciated about Mando is that he always valued my opinion and never tried to displace me of my role in the family. I always felt that he respected me and that was the basis of our friendship and eventually our love as father and son. He was always so supportive of me and was alway encouraging. He was so proud of me when I graduated college and always wanted to know how I was doing at work. He used to give me such good advice about life. I miss the ridiculous great bear hugs he used to give me when I hadn't seen him in a long time. So ridiculous that he used to bend the frames of my glasses sometimes so I had to remember to take them off first. He taught me how to drive and how to shave. He looked after my Mom.

The last year went by so fast. I miss him a lot.