A DAD MEMORY

This afternoon I was making ham and cheese buns.  Jake was having a cup of coffee at the table with me, and I explained to him that making the buns reminded me of parties of long ago.  When I was a kid, my parents would have all their friends over for each of their birthdays.  A pretty typical offering at Dutch parties is a ham or cheese bun.   The task of making six dozen potato buns, purchased at Patty's Pastries in Chino, fell to me and my two sisters.  We usually worked in assembly-line fashion, dumping the huge mountain of buns onto the middle of the kitchen table.  Then one of us started the process by splitting the bun open with a sharp knife, the next in line applied the butter, and the third would lay on the ham or cheese.  It was kind of a fun and festive job.  I told Jake that if my dad were observing us, he would be quick to say - 

Lay the butter on thicker!

The butter has to be on both sides! 

Make sure the butter covers everything!

You need to use more ham!

Slice the cheese thicker!

When Jake heard this, he said that he thought my dad, the grandpa he never knew, sounded like a very picky man. But being picky was not what Dad's "criticisms" were about.  Rather this story illustrates my dad's big-hearted and generous hospitality.  When Dad was the host, he wanted everything to be royale.  He did not do this with extravagance, but with simple things...  

...like lots of butter.  

Joey and Opa

1971

Adriana, Opa, and Joey

1974

Opa, Elly, and Joey

1975

Dad died of a brain tumor on April 8, 1977 at the age of 59.
I am sad that he died so young.
I am sad that Joey, Adriana and Elly hardly got to know him.
I am sad that Peter and Jake never even got to meet him.
 Honoring you this Father's Day,
I want to say, "I love you still, Dad."