Today marks the 22nd anniversary of my father's passing. I went with my mother to the cemetery this morning to visit his grave. Afterwards, we went to a new Portuguese restaurant called Adega, which has replaced Sousa's in San Jose. Despite being a brand new restaurant, it is filled with character. There is a traditional mosaic on the back wall, real tools for making wine are hanging on the walls (Adega means wine cellar), and much of the furniture was hand-built by the owners. The food was absolutely incredible. My father would have loved this place.
Over lunch I asked my mom to tell me something about my father that I did not already know. She said that each year he would get very excited about my birthday. I knew he enjoyed throwing big parties for friends, but what I did not know is that he would spend hours each year coming up with a creative new birthday invitation card. Each year's card was unique, and as an artist he would always do something special. I am going to have to go through storage and find these cards, since I had no idea he did this.
