May your father rest in peace.
I am sorry for your loss. It sounds like he was quite a man.
Posted by jharp at December 4, 2008 06:33 PMRest in peace Mr. Soto
Posted by Parallax at December 4, 2008 06:41 PMSorry for your loss. Great tribute Steve.
Love and Peace to everyone in your family.
Posted by Seven of Six at December 4, 2008 06:55 PM...Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were the best ever.
Your dad was right. Rest in peace. I am sorry for your loss.
Posted by Bill H at December 4, 2008 06:58 PMMy deepest condolences, Steve.
Posted by idiosynchronic at December 4, 2008 07:04 PMso sorry
Posted by glichte at December 4, 2008 07:10 PMSorry to hear about your loss, that difference in your life must seem all the starker in this holiday season.
He sounds like a wonderful guy.
Posted by kleven-stein at December 4, 2008 07:16 PMMy sympathy to you and your family, Steve. Losing a parent is a terrifically hard thing to handle. Someone once said that with each person's passing, an entire piece of history is lost, and I believe it. But he'll live forever in your memories...
Posted by BAJ at December 4, 2008 07:33 PMI lost my own dad 3 weeks ago. I'm right there with you.
Posted by susan at December 4, 2008 07:44 PMMy dad was also a very special person. There's something about being the youngest in a large working class family...I think they get a lot of love and it is reflected in their personalities.
So sorry for your loss.
My deepest condolences, Steve. He will be missed. May God be with you and yours. I'm sorry you ran out of time. Peace!
Posted by peter at December 4, 2008 08:35 PMSorry for your loss, Steve. Hang in there.
Posted by Muck at December 4, 2008 09:38 PMSteve:
My heartfelt condolences to you and your family. He seems to have been an exemplary father. Like father, like son.
Jonathan
Posted by at December 4, 2008 10:09 PMCondolences, Steve.
Posted by chris65203 at December 4, 2008 10:42 PMSo sorry Steve.
Posted by Judith at December 5, 2008 01:59 AMGod bless your family and all who have suffered loss.
Posted by Susan S at December 5, 2008 03:44 AMSo sorry for your loss Steve. Your dad sounds like a great man.
Cherish the memories. They will keep him alive for the whole family.
Posted by snark at December 5, 2008 05:32 AMAw Steve, so sorry for your loss. I'm sure you made him proud. Hugs to you and your family on this dark day.
Posted by iamcoyote at December 5, 2008 05:35 AMWords cannot begin to express the heartfelt condolences that I'm extending to you and your family. I've tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat reading such a wonderful eulogy Steve. The words and the family story ring an all too familiar tune that occurred just over fours years ago...but it was my mother. I still think about and miss her very much to this day.
May the very many happy memories of your father and family provide some comfort for you and your family through these trying times. God Bless you all.
emal
Condolences, thoughts and all comfort to you and your family, Steve. Everything's there in what you wrote.
I still can't get my own father's death near to me, after almost almost four years. It's like only his clothes died or something. For me he's never really been gone.
Posted by Sharkbabe at December 5, 2008 06:09 AMMy prayers and thoughts go out to you and your family...sounds like you Dad was a good man. Words just aren't good enough at times like these. Honor your Dad & your Mom by continuing your good work. When you are through with your mourning, come back and help us kick the right wings ass.
Posted by raider at December 5, 2008 06:24 AMI'm very sad to hear of your Dad's passing Steve.
He did a good job as a father, as we can see from his son's example.
All the best wishes to you and your family in this tough tough time. I hope you all can celebrate the good times and deeds this holiday, I'll bet you all have some good stories about Dad!!
Posted by Duckman GR at December 5, 2008 06:26 AMSteve, my heart goes out to you and your family. Your dad sounds like he was a wonderful father.
Posted by Mary at December 5, 2008 07:01 AMTimes like this and I remember a gem my dad used to remind all of us with, "Anybody can walk through the door and have kids or get a job, the tough part is being there day after day making something for your wife and with your kids and making your job something you have pride in"
Sounds like your dad worked hard with every fibre of his being to make his time on this earth full of the real kind of love, the kind that wasn't just words. I'm so sorry for your family's loss. Take care.
Posted by mainsailset at December 5, 2008 07:05 AMMay you and your family be comforted in this time.
Posted by herbal tee at December 5, 2008 07:36 AMI am so terribly, terribly sorry.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and all your family, I'm so sorry.
Posted by paradox at December 5, 2008 07:43 AMIt's always tough to know what to say to a person when they lose someone. I honestly don't know the depth of your grief.
I do have some advice: The sun will come up tomorrow. Be the best person you can be. Hold the people you love a little tighter. Laugh. Don't be ashamed when you're listening to the radio and some old song makes you cry.
Not much, but that's about all I have. From the comments here it seems a lot of people care for you. That's a good thing. I know you're very lucky that I'm not there. I would hug the hell out of you, start crying, and get snot all over your shoulder.
Posted by phidipides at December 5, 2008 08:36 AMI'm very sorry for your loss, may he rest in peace. I'm sure that he was proud of you.
Posted by john griffith at December 5, 2008 09:25 AMDude, that was a heartfelt and moving tribute to your dad. May he rest in peace, and may you and your kin find strength and comfort in each other and whatever higher spiritual power you believe in. Take care.
Posted by BigDaddyRich at December 5, 2008 09:54 AMOh Steve, I am very sorry to all of you for your loss. Seems your dad was a helluva fighter, and he taught you well.
You have honored him beautifully; your eulogy is the best that I have read. I am certain that his Spirit lives on in all that you and yours do and that he is smiling through the fog. I believe that he is enjoying the words of love and support written for you, about him, and is glad that you are the Man that you have become.
A true measure of a Man [and a Woman] is the friends that he keeps and the love that he creates. We can see here that you have created a lot of love and I am certain that your father did the same.
I am sending you energy now - please take care of yourself and honor your truths. If collapsing is what you need, then collapse...the world will still spin, even if you take a break.
Much Love,
Anjha
And, Steve, Your father is a very handsome and lovely man. The picture that you chose is fabulous.
Posted by Anjha at December 5, 2008 09:59 AMSteve;
Sorry for your loss. Your dad sounds like the middle class American Obama talked about in his campaign. I am sorry that your dad did not live to see a President doing something for people on main street rather than people on wall street.
Posted by suresh at December 5, 2008 10:55 AMThank you for sharing some of what you're going through, Steve. Please accept another expression of sorrow for your loss and best wishes to you and your family as you grieve.
Posted by bartcopfan at December 5, 2008 03:18 PM"and will miss him every day for the rest of my life." ...sounds like you also lucked out and got a really neat guy for a dad and friend.
Mine was also a working class democrat, and died 25 years ago today at 67.
I have a picture of him at eye level on a shelf that I can't help but see everytime I go out to and come in from the pool. It really helps alot.
Your dad's hair looks like my dads did, and it got a little weird when a strange lady who crashed the funeral walked up to the coffin and proclaimed in a LOUD voice "He's still got his hair!"
Good thoughts to you and your family.
What a great Dad! Thanks for sharing the portrait of him in a moving eulogy. My condolences, Steve.
Posted by Copeland at December 5, 2008 10:10 PMMy deepest sympathy to you and your family.
My dad was also a Giants fan and a 49er faithful for decades. Lost him in 1998 and still miss him every day.
One thing I'm glad I did before my Mother died, was to record her stories. She was the life of the party on earth (and undoubtedly still is where ever she may be), and I can still enjoy a bit of that by listening to the recordings.
Posted by colbertocrat at December 6, 2008 06:04 PMSteve, my Daddy's birthday is today. He would have been 71.
He's been gone 13 years and a few weeks. There was my life before that awful night and there has been my life since.
Think of all the great things your father lived to see in your life and in your family's lives.
Stay strong, man. Best wishes to you and yours.
Posted by Toby Petzold at December 8, 2008 01:56 PMI'm so sorry Steve. It sounds like it all happened so fast. My mom was diagnosed with cancer and also seemed to come through the surgery with flying colors. But she had to have a second surgery for a complication (blocked intestine), which she nearly didn't survive. Now she feels fine, but can't eat and needs another surgery that she may or may not survive and may or may not fix the problem. I've been so thankful that we've had these 6 months to see her get better and go home before we face the next surgery sometime soon. She was in the hospital on a respirator for her and my dad's 51st anniversary.
I'm sorry you didn't have that time to prepare (though you never really can) and to see your dad better after the surgery. I'm so sorry for you and your family and especially your mother. I know I can handle it if my mom dies, but I don't think I can handle seeing my dad have to go through it.
Posted by CG at December 8, 2008 03:37 PM