| OUR DAD |
| Juan Aranda was born on May 9, 1914. His father was killed when he was just a boy. His mom and siblings were left to care for one another. He was always very close to his mom. We never knew any of our Aunts, Uncles or cousins from his side of the family as much as we knew mom's side of the family. We just never got to see them much. As a dad of eight children, he did all he knew he could do for us. He was a very quiet man and kept very much to himself. He did his best in being our dad. I guess not having a dad to teach him made it hard for him. Dad worked in a small restruarant downtown called, The Texas Sandwhich Shop. Dad had to take the city bus to and from work since he did not know how to drive. Neither of our parents ever drove a car, so everything was done taking the public city bus. Sometimes, some of us would stop by the Shop while we were downtown and dad would give us a hotdog or an ice cream cone. That was always fun. Almost every Saturday morning, dad would go walking to the store early in the morning to buy milk and cereal so we would have something for breakfast. Sometimes he would buy some sweet cakes which we hardly ever could afford. After Dad lost his job and became disabled, he seemed to be depressed. He was used to supporting his children and found it hard to take when mom had to get a job to help out. One thing I remember about Dad is that he would always wake up to check on us while we slept. With a flashlight he would make sure that we were properly covered up. He would cover us if we weren't. Dad always liked to have things nice and neat. He always swept when he saw that the house needed sweeping. He always took out the garbage and would clean out the trashcans. Dad kept his clothes nicely folded in his drawers. He folded everything, even his handkerchiefs. Dad did not keep his clothes with all the other dirty clothes; instead, he hung his dirty clothes on one side and his clean clothes on the other side. Dad loved to go for walks across the street where there was land that belonged to the Railroad. We called it " EL Monte". We would have fun walking with him, finding things along the way. It was always like being on a treasure hunt. Dad loved Spanish Music. He loved to sing too, although he only sang at home. He had many single records that he always wrote his initials on and the date he bought them. I think we all knew a little Spanish by the songs we heard growing up. Dad was not perfect and had some problems when he got older, but he always tried to show us that he loved us the best way he knew how. Dad died on August 26, 1987. He was 73 years old. We miss you, dad and will always love you. |
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| SONG PLAYING WAS PLAYED AT DAD'S FUNERAL SERVICE |
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