Tribute to My Dad on Father's Day + Potato Salad

Father's Day is a time to acknowledge dad and celebrate his awesomeness!

On Father's day in our family, our traditional family celebration is to bring all of the fathers and their families together for a BBQ.  Over the past few years, my daughter in law Wendy has been hosting! The list includes, my husband, my brother in laws,  and my sons, Wendy's father and step father and uncles as well as everyones spouses and children of course.

Despite the happy occasion, it still reminds us that some of our fathers are not with us; that includes my father. My dad has been gone for 29 years, but I still remember his devotion to our family and the many sacrifices he made for us! He was fun to be around, and he liked to cook. When I was little, he owned a deli where he made homemade potato salad to sell every day! I don't have his recipe, but at the end of the post I linked some of my favorite potato salad recipes.

My dad was called Al ( a more secular name than his birth name of Abraham and his childhood name of Abee) .
I called him Dad;  his grand kids called him Pop Pop, my mother called him honey.

Things I remember about my dad:

• He made his own Italian spaghetti (sauce) gravy every Sunday for a spaghetti and meatball dinner.
• He was the oldest of five : 2 brothers ( Hyman and Lou)  and 2 sisters ( Annabel and Ruth)
• His parents were immigrants from Russia
• His father ( Reuben)  died of heart failure when my father was  only 12 years old
• My father died at age 73
• His mother ( Fannie married 3 times) outlived my father and died at age 107
• Being the oldest, my father helped support the family
• He was very neat and organized
• Played basketball on the school team in high school for Trenton Central High School 
• He graduated high school in 1929 and attended Rider College for 1 year
• Attended his 50th high school re-union ( died 4 years later) 
• Loved to dance, danced often, and was a good dancer
• Grew outstanding yellow, red, an pink roses along the entire side of our house
• Loved to play cards ( poker and pinocle) and played with a group about 2 nights /week
• Loved dogs
• He never shouted
• Was very generous to family and friends
• His favorite meal was roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy
• Loved homemade potato latkes, prune hamantashen, and kosher brisket
• Brought me chocolate as gifts and paper cut out dolls to play with 
• Was very likeable and had lots of friends
• Was handsome 
• Worked hard at two jobs to make a living
• Loved and was devoted to family and extended family
• Liked to have fun
• Had two daughters-  Rita Lee from his first marriage to Harriet; Judee from his second marriage to Rae
• Three grandchildren- Howard ( Rita's son) , Jonathan, Jason ( Judee's children) 

Potato Salad Recipes:

Vegan Potato Salad ( healthy) 

Easiest Homemade Potato Salad

Slim and Trim Potato Salad

My Skinny Potato Salad Alternative


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