I couldn't handle giving any kind of speech at his funeral so here are some of the things I would have said.
So many memories from so many vacations but a few that stand out:
-- when we were kids, him stopping repeatedly to show us power towers on a road trip out west.
-- parasailing with him in Mexico when I was a teenager; I think I gave him a heart attack that day
-- snorkeling in Guadeloupe and he took great joy in watching me freak out when he pointed out a stingray getting too close
-- taking him mountain biking in Colorado
-- climbing the pyramids at Chichen Itza
-- touring the castles in England and teasing him for carrying 3 cameras (yes 3 cameras)
The thing I remember the most about him is his sarcasm and sense of humor and the good-natured banter we'd toss back and forth, more so after I became an adult. As I got older, I came to him more for advice and he also shared with me his concerns and thoughts, asking my input. I distinctly remember one father-daughter talk in my early 20s when we were discussing my love life problems - it wasn't at the dinner table or on a walk, but while he was changing the oil in his car, lol. I think that was the only way he could handle that conversation but he still wanted to help. I wasn't always comfortable talking with him either, but I knew he was always there to listen and offer his opinions (whether I wanted them or not).
I think I am most like him in the sense of holding on to papers and photos. My goal is not to end up as bad, and to organize what he kept because there are many gems among his piles. When he was alive, I uncovered several and shared them with him (was funny how much he didn't know or remember he had). He wasn't as enthusiastic as I was, but he did share a little of my genealogy interest and I remember one long day in 2013 we spent in Newark going over old microfiche newspapers and touring the neighborhoods where his mother, grandmother and great-parents lived (yes some of the houses were still there!).
One of my earliest memories of my Dad were of Christmas, when he would lift me up to put the angel on the tree. Of course one of my more vivid memories was one of the last conversations I had with him - on a hike when my parents were visiting us in Georgia in December. He was worried about all the things he still had to do before moving to Georgia and we were talking about the move, not having enough time and family time (back when I was a kid and now) and me trying to get him to see the positives of moving (like spending more time with us and our kids) that would make the work worth it. I'd like to think I helped his perspective a little, or for once he was keeping his sarcasm to himself.