Happy Birthday Popi in Heaven

By Tommy Acosta

Sedona, AZ — Today my father would have been 99 years old.

A poet. A musician. A philosopher. A master tailor. A mystic. A father and family man, Cruz Thomas Acosta, known to me as Popi, lived a life of love and kindness.

I celebrate his birthday today by writing this thankful tribute.

Thank you, Popi, for being a steadfast provider for our family. We never suffered want. We always had everything we needed.

Thank you, Popi, for teaching me kindness and patience and making me aware of my thoughts and how to observe them.

Thank you for teaching me how to play the guitar, write songs, and how to box—a skill that came in handy when bullies would try to pick on me when I was growing up in the streets of the Brox.

Thank you for teaching me to never accept anything at face value and always look beyond what is obvious.

Thank you for your spiritual values and for engaging me at an early age in philosophical discourse.

Thank you for opening my eyes to political reality and showing me how to understand how we are manipulated by those in power.

Thank you for instilling in me a sense of compassion for those less fortunate. I have learned to listen well and acknowledge the divinity of every person I encounter. I see god everywhere. Inside, outside, here and  there. Even the life of an insect reflects the will of the Creator.

Thank you for teaching me how not to hate but instead to better understand what motivates others to do so.

Thank you for teaching me how to enjoy hearty laughter and understand how ridiculous reality can sometimes be.

And most of all, thank you for teaching me how to forgive—others and myself.

Wherever your soul or spirit now reside, I hope you can still see me and hear me.

I love you, Popi. I thank you for your love and wisdom and raising me to be a good man as I have pledged the same for my own son.

Here is a beautiful song my father and his lifelong buddy Beinvenido sung one day together at my house that sums up the meaning of life: