Thank-you for coming, I am Aaron, Alex’s grandson.
So the story goes, San Francisco Giants player Gaylord Perry had limited home runs in his career. In fact, a reporter said, “No way, there’ll be a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.”. The rest of the story is that Perry, in fact hit a home run on July 20, 1969 – they day of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon.
To talk about my grandpa is to talk about giants shooting for the moon and hitting a home run for his family and others.
The family home of my mom and her sisters, had a garden like the Garden of Eden: apples, roses, tomatoes, loquat, green peppers, chayote, cherries and such on any given year. It was his passion, but also a labor of love and amazing nourishment his little family. It was in this yard where those entrusted into our family, enjoyed grilled (yet sometimes burned) chicken during a Giant’s game, searched for Easter Eggs, and came to him for help as a leader in his church – this one here, Templo Juan 3:16. Alongside his dear single-mom, he learned to be thrifty and self-sufficient. He was the one to alter, fix, and maintain the family home. In my mother’s Papi's garage, along with his pool table and shuffleboard (which he built himself), Alex stored his mechanic's tool collection in his work bench and a separate machinist tool collection in a large rolling toolbox. All these tools he kept inventoried, clean, organized and ready to go. So the legend goes, once to the raised eyebrows of his wife, he decided to fix his roof with a buddy without professional help. After more than 20 years, no matter the rain – it is still watertight, a legacy for grandpa.
It was in this capacity that he became a giant, himself. His fixit skills served countless people when they found their house or car in need of repair with limited cash to expend. Those same tenacious skills that brought him from a dishwasher to Greyhound mechanic, got him noticed at Memorex where they saw promise and trained him as a Certificated Machinist. He shot for the moon in his work as a machinist and in his 30+ years of work at Memorex he received many awards for his diligence and innovation. This same man with an impeccable work ethic, had a child’s heart for folly and quirky jokes, which we will miss sorely. He loved holidays and would take his daughters on Halloween adventures in search of endless candy, buy Christmas presents for all who graced his elaborately decorated tree, and bring the family to lakes, ponds, and fishing holes.
Somehow that salt-water from his birth in Puerto Rico ran through his veins and brought him to the water as crayfish explorer or crab fisherman. If our family had one more day him it would be to wake up early and go to Santa Cruz for a day at the beach. Getting wet in the water and eating lunch by the water. Afterwards cleaning up and eating fish and chips on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We would tell him that we love him one last time. That same water from the Pacific is the one of his Baptism which gives us hope to see him not on the Moon but in our eternal home a new Eden, tending his vegetables while listening to the Giants win on an old radio.
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