Enrique (Dick) Pineda

Daddy Dick, Tang Dick to close friends and relatives, but he’s plain Daddy to us. His grand kids sometimes affectionately refer to him as Lolo Groovy!

He’s known for his tiny, white ducktail. He’s almost bald except for some thin white hair on his temples; on the lower back of his head and of course, his ducktail, which he usually sports in a braid. He was always with us in our old house in Norwalk when we used to live in California except for a short period of time when he worked for an electronics shop in the Valley.

I’ve mentioned that we had the best looking lawn in our neighborhood the consequence of which was a really high water bill. He gets ticked off when he goes on vacation in the Philippines, comes back and finds his lawn either turning brown or with uneven splotches where I mowed it. He wore several hats in Norwalk: electrician, plumber, electronics technician, carpenter, mason, you name it, he can do it! My former co-workers are so jealous that I don’t do any maintenance around the house.

He’s seen the doctor once during the several years he stayed with us. He had Medical/Medicare coverage but he feels he takes advantage of the government if and when he goes to doctors for free for the common cold or even a slight temperature. His cure all? Tylenol! He has a headache, he takes Tylenol. A cold? Tylenol. Even if he has diarrhea, yup Tylenol. He wakes up early in the morning and walks about 5 miles. He refused to get an LA Times subscription preferring to walk and buys it himself. He’s always with his trademark Camels Soft Pack. I remember he was able to get a nice coat as a prize from sending out Camel cigarettes proofs of purchase during a promotion. He has one, maybe two Buds a night and just like everyone in the Pineda family, he loves Las Vegas and Pechanga.

He originally hails from Barangay San Isidro which celebrates its patron saint’s feast day every May 15th of the year. He never misses to go to church there during the fiesta, so last May 15, all of us went and heard mass at their small Catholic chapel. We met some of their relatives also there to hear mass. Daddy borrowed the small statue of St. Isidore from the chapel saying it originally belonged to their family but has since been donated to the chapel. We visited a house owned by his distant cousin. Since it’s their fiesta, they didn’t give up until they had us share breakfast with them. One of the nieces casually mentioned, "How about a family reunion?"


So last July 19, without his knowledge we invited all kinds of friends and long lost relatives to celebrate his 83rd birthday here in our place. It surprised him that so many of his relatives showed up. Leda baked a huge birthday cake for him. Atching Alice of Partyland came with a bunch of food courtesy of her brothers and sisters here and abroad who’re so close to Daddy.




Father’s Day ‘08

Last June 14, we celebrated a quiet Father’s Day here in which Leda baked a cake with the names of all the fathers in the family on it.