Tribute For a Loving Person

This is a tribute for a loving person who has been here for me for 14 years and 9 days. This person is there for me when I feel so hopeless and lonely. This person walks with me all over Uptown and we have deep discussions about discrimination and homelessness. This person I call my dad, padre, and papazel. I could never ask for a different dad than the dad I have now.

My dad is a husband to my wonderful mom, Beth. I always enjoyed going on car trips and my parents would have discussions of all sorts of things. I liked to listen to them talk and talk because I like to be aware of the things going on in this world, I glad I’m not clueless. And I thank my marvelous padre for that.

Having all those deep talks led my dad to protest for those who are in need of help. My dad loves going to protest (me too). Some protest that he’s gone to that I know of is Uptown Tent City, mass incarceration, affordable housing, and I know there are many many more but there’s too many to count. I liked walking around Uptown with signs in our arms yelling, “Hey hey ho ho, James Cappleman has to go, results not words, housing is a human right, hands off homeless people hands off tent city, what do we need? Housing!, Uptown for everyone, no cop academy,” and there are several others that I know that my dad definitely knows.

My papazel is a preacher at the Cook County Jail. He gives hope to those in jail and who work there. Also, my padre preaches at the bridge once a month on Tuesday. When my dad preaches he knows what he's talking about. He's full of compassion of Jesus word of hope, love, faith, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, generosity, gentleness, self-control, modesty, mercy, being caring, and how to be a follower of Jesus. When I hear my dad preach it is very beautiful and special. I’m lucky that I live a home filled with Christians. If I didn’t grow up in this environment of loving Christians my life would be mixed up, chaotic, and I wouldn’t know how to control myself.

When I feel like I need some advice about a situation I chat with my dad. My dad gives great advice about any problem that is going on. I come home from school or someplace else, and I’m crying and crying. The person I go straight to is my dad and tell him what is going on and he usually helps by throwing away my anxiety away and keeping me strong. Some parents turn their backs to their kid's obstacles in life I’m so thankful that I have two parents who bring solutions not problems.

My dad is a preacher which means he's a Christian. My papazel is a powerful loving Christian who loves to go to church and hear others preach and worship about our holy father mother.

Me and my dad have a lot of things in common. One of them is basketball. Me and my padre like to watch the Chicago Bulls play basketball. We also like to play it. I enjoy going outside playing basketball with him (I usually win). We play 21 most of the time.

My dad is a true Jpusian. True Jpusian means a Christian, lives at Jpusa, a protester, and a fighter for no more discrimination. Luckily I passed the test of being a Jpusian as well.

My dad is 6 foot 2 and there’s this area where my parents' bed sticks out and my dad always hits his head on it. It’s pretty funny but I fold it in to be kind. But for my dad, it's a moment where he breathes really hard and gets stressed out. That's where I can’t hold in my laughter anymore.

My dad is a big part of helping those in need especially the homeless in Chicago. Both of my parents work at Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO). My dad is many things at CCO. He’s a houser, he’s a friend, he’s someone who supports them in their struggles, he guides them into the right direction, and gives them hope. When I go to CCO with my dad we get stopped by like 10 people or more! I always got frustrated by that and joke about with my family but I realized that that shows that these homeless people are wanting a friend to give them hope, guidance, support, a home, and someone to lean on, and they go to my dad.

How people remember my dad is from his legendary braided GO-T. It’s very unique and beautiful! What I have heard is when I was a baby I loved to just yank it really hard. And when I was a little younger I and my friends would just yank my papazel’s GO-T and run away before he would run after us. My dad having a GO-T makes him interesting. But I do the same thing with my legendary nub But that just means we are interesting people and that’s awesome.

My papazel is an active guy. He loves to go on walks all the time. We are alike in that way. In Chicago, we would walk to the lake, Tent City when it was still there R.I.P, Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO), and sometimes my mom makes me and dad run errands to get Buddy and Smilie food, get dinner, and snacks from the corner store. I love going on walks with dad it gives me the time to talk to him about good and bad things.

What I learned in those 14 years and 9 days is that my dad is a HUGE part of my life. He keeps me up when I feel down, he makes me aware of things in this world, a stronger Christian, and he makes me laugh. Even when I don’t want to. I hope I’ve been as good as a daughter as you been as a father.      

-Your Daughter