Nancy Contreras
My Apa, I did not want to accept that these would be our last days, or that I would have to dismiss myself so fast, but it is not my place to ask or to decide, only God knows why. I wake up a few days waiting for you to knock on my window for the girls to open the door with their little hands wide open, when you’d drop mom off at the store cause oh boy we all knew she could spend hours shopping and came to visit. My greatest memories are when I was a kid and you opened my heart to the love for animals, you’d come from work always with a pigeon or in some cases a puppy even if they’d run away or fly away by the end of the week you never Failed to surprise me with more! I can remember when my mom would fix you a lunch and I sometimes wrote a letter and put it in your lunch box while y’all slept so that you’d never know it was there till the next day at work, oh and those scary days that You taught me to drive and how I almost had a panic attack cause I nearly drove over a weird suicidal cat in the middle of the road. When you bought my first car-Hyundai that always left a trail of smoke but I was so happy with my little blue carito! Dad has always taught me good values and didn’t always buy all the things I wanted. But at the same time, he has given me many things that I always needed to have. I thank you very much that you have always tried your best to make me a good human being. Whenever I needed help, you were always available, and you were very good at making my problems seem to be so small, you always have been a hero to me! Dad was a fun, great, strong, adventurous and intelligent human being. I remember that he always took us to travel to many beautiful places. But my favorite memories were when we sat outside of my house, only you and I talking about thousands of stories of your days in Mexico and how you remembered your days when you met mom while riding your bike.
Unfortunately the day came that I recognize that I am in a world where the heroes come and go, and in these days God took the only one that I always knew! But now you are in God's house where there is no more pain and everything is much more beautiful than what is in this borrowed life we have. Your love will always continue to live inside me and I will keep it strong to my heart! I thank you very much for teaching me and allowing me to recognize what it means to be grateful to have a day of life next to those who love us and of importance. I’ll continue hoping that one day you’ll knock on my window one more time so this time I can open the door with my hands wide open and Daddy, save me a space in your new home next to you!


