Remembering Dad-Hawaii - Summer-1967

Aloha! I thought I would share one of my favorite photos. At the time he had cancer and wanted to see Hawaii, as he knew the end was near. He passed away the following Spring.

He was only 36, but he left us with some great memories. He listened to Sinatra, Elvis, Baxter, and Denny. Loved Sci-Fi & Horror movies and would take us to the drive-in, Disneyland, Knotts, Marineland, Pacific Ocean Park and camping. He built a bar in the den (not tiki, had paneling and a wood shake overhang.....I'll have to find pix of that, and the ones of their Mickee & Minnie Mouse paper-mache heads & costumes). Mom had her Toby mug collection on shelves. Dad was a sales rep for the aerospace industry and liked to go to the L.A. nightclubs, Brown Derby, Trader Vic's, The Islander, and ......

The Moulan Rouge.

A Happy Father's Day to all the Father's that are with us and those that are still with us in our memories and pictures.

Bongofury

Thanks for posting the pics of your father, bongofury. It sounds like he was a fine father who left you with many happy memories. I feel the same way about my dad too. We are about 1000 miles apart, but whenever we visit, there are always good memories left over.

Great post Bongofury.

Thanks for making me stop for a moment to stop and be grateful for what I have.

I hope my kids will think of me as you do your dad, bongo! He seemed like a super cool cat! My mom's dad was a salesman for a foundry and I remember him talking about Trader Vic's. As a kid, I thought that name was cool!

I was just thinking that, although my dad and I have a strained relationship at times and I don't think that he'll ever understand where I'm coming from, he just dropped the most killer set of chisels on me for my carvings! How about that! Not bad for a congressman! haha!

Well put Bongofury.
Mahalo.
:tiki:

Quite a suave looking cat your dad was. I'm sure he'd be proud of your interest in tiki and your fabulous tiki-fied house.

On 2004-06-16 08:51, Tiki_Bong wrote:
Quite a suave looking cat your dad was.

Yes-he gives Mr Dapper (The Jab) and run for his money!! :)

He sounded like a great dad, Bongofury.

For his part, my dad took my mum to the newly opened Trader Vic's, London for their first anniversary. And he took us out to the Honolulu, Norwood for Pu-pu platters time and time again. Good old dad.

To our dads on Father's Day.

Trader Woody

The details are messy and sad, but let's just say I was not Daddy's Little Girl growing up. I have some great memories of childhood and overall think of it fondly, but there's a whole heapin' mess of darkness there, too, I'm afraid. Childhood isn't easy for many people, and mine was no exception.

These are things that happened in the past, and things are different now. My father, thank goodness, is in many ways a different person than he was then. And as I've grown up, I can see a lot of him in myself -- my wanderlust, my sociability, my eye for detail, my need to always be crafting something. These are all traits that, if I do have them, they definitely came from my father. My nose, too -- definitely got that from his side of the family. Despite some similarities, my Dad & I have always had great difficulty relating to each other.

After a particularly difficult time a few years ago where I actually stopped talking to him for about a year, we found something we could come together on: my tiki bar.

The Humuhumu Room was a project that let us both use our differences & strengths to do something we both love: creating. Dad spent countless hours working on the Humuhumu Room with me, and loved it every bit as much as I did. I had a vision in mind, and he helped me refine it into something practical. I designed the room, but he was responsible for designing the actual framing of the bar, making it so sound I could have hopped up & down on it and it wouldn’t have budged a bit. He improved my ideas, by making room in the bar not just for the shelving, but also for a small refrigerator and a drawer. He taught me how to tile the top, and how to do the finish carpentry on the drink rail. He ran new outlets all over the room for me. When it came time to put in the decorative touches, he got every bit as excited as I was. As the project went on, we became much closer and came to understand and trust each other much more than we had before. Most importantly, I think he was for the first time able to see that there’s an awful lot of him in me.

What made the project especially poignant for me is that much of the trouble of my childhood stems from my father’s alcohol abuse. Not sure I would say he’s an actual alcoholic, but he’s definitely not good at drinking, and very much doesn’t live up to Trader Vic’s saying about drinking like a gentleman. I grew up dreadfully afraid of alcohol, and wouldn’t touch the stuff until well into adulthood. It was a big step for me to get comfortable with drinking and learn that it’s not, necessarily, evil. Dad had stopped drinking (yay!) right before we worked on the bar, and it was great having a completely positive alcohol-related experience with my Dad.

Most of you have seen the Humuhumu Room before, but for any of you new folks who missed it, here’s it is: The Humuhumu Room

I love my Dad.

Bongofury, what an admirable post! Its nice to see and hear how admirable your dad is. And you know, as they say, the apple doesn't fall too far away from the tree.

I too, admire my dad for the many things that he did for me and my family. Migrating from "The Pie" (Philippine Islands) 32 years ago was certainly a selfless decision that he and my mom made for the benefit of his family. You know, he really did have some balls - moving his family not to another city, not to another state but to another country for the hope of something better for all of us.

My dad rules! Happy Father's Day to him and to all fathers who would take the food out of their own mouths to take care of their own - I know I would with my kids. I only hope I raise them and provide for them as well as my dad did for me and my siblings.

**Poly-Pop ***

He who dies with the most broken mugs WINS!

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2004-06-16 19:05 ]

Poly Pop,

I know you love your kids as much as I do (ah, not your kids, my kids), It's great that we think alike on this.

"I'm ashamed to be here, but not too ashamed to leave..."

Celebrate 'International Tiki Day' the second Saturday in August - hau'oli la tiki!

[ Edited by: Tiki_Bong on 2004-06-17 11:01 ]

Thank you all for the kind words. Yes Dad was quite the man-about-town and lots of fun. Unfortunately he traveled a lot so we missed out on some quality time and although we have hundreds of family photos and movies, he was usually behind the camera, so not a lot of pictures of him.

Humuhumu and Suburbanpagan's replies remind me that not all of us have the perfect Dad (or Mom, Brother, Kids, etc), but it is important to try to make some connection before they are no longer with us.

When I get a chance I will try to post the pics of their Hawaiian holiday. Mom and her friend have on some great tourist clothes and giant beehive hair. A happy Tiki to you all.

I just saw a photo of my dad which was taken next to the Moai at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
I'm a second generation Tikiphile!

You guys were fortunate to have Dads who did stuff with you , and were cool to boot . My father only made sure that HE had a good time .

Although I missed out , MY daughter hasn't . I'm confident that when I've gone to the big tiki party in the sky , that she'll have plenty of great family memories to share with all her friends .

[ Edited by: sushiman 2008-07-20 00:41 ]

I know that Ron (Bongofury) started this tribute thread over 4 years ago and the photos have been lost but since it has been refreshed, I hope he will replace the photos.

I thought I would add a photo of my own father which was taken in Hawaii shortly before his death. It has been just over 2 years now. I sure do miss him.

Take a few minutes to call or visit someone you haven't seen for a while. Sure you're busy, but make time today, you'll be glad you did. :)

That's a great pic, 8FT Tiki.

I don't have any photos of my dad to share, but here's one of my mom that we took on her 80th birthday 2 years ago. We threw a luau at our house and invited all 8 of her surviving brothers and sisters. She had a great time, and so did all of my aunts and uncles.

On 2008-07-22 16:10, 8FT Tiki wrote:
I know that Ron (Bongofury) started this tribute thread over 4 years ago and the photos have been lost but since it has been refreshed, I hope he will replace the photos.

I second that request!

My Mom and Dad were both total TiKi freaks, they rarely went to anything but a Polynesian restaurant or bar. And trust me they went often. My first word may have been Mai Tai. Their favorite haunt was the Coconut Grove during the war and the Reef in Long Beach but given a chance they were off to Bali Hai. Dad carved some Tiki's for our house in Culver City, had a tiki bar and collected Mugs back in the 50's. I had a tumultuous relationship with my folks but one thing always united us, Tiki. They are both gone but will be remembered each time a Mai Tai is lifted in this family.

Thanks for bringing this back up. I originally posted this as a Father's Day tribute, and I just wanted to remind everyone to be thankful for what they have or had. I understand that life can sometimes be unfair but I am happy to see that as in the case of Sushiman who's Father may not have been ideal, that he will be remembered properly. Father's Day (and other holidays) can be a painful reminder for some of us. I also lost my only child several years ago also which I shared long ago in another old post.

So now I would like to thank 2 special people who I have not shared this with, but I now will.....Sven and Hanford who provided me with an escape into a past and a distraction that I needed when I was sometimes overwhelmed by daily life.

Dad in Hawaii.....remember when people wore suits on the plane?

Dad & Mom with my older Brother in the 50s....nice shirt

Dad built this bar in the den. Not Tiki, but he eventually added shelving for Mom's Toby mug collection. The shelves got knocked down by one of their drunken guests. Most of the mugs crashed on the tiled counter of the wet bar below and could not be saved.

The shot before the costume party...