HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today is my dad’s birthday. He would have been 68 years old. In honor of him today, I’d like to remember 68 things about the most important and influential man in my life:

As Coach Bowen’s daughter I enjoyed the following:
1. ….working in the snack bar and getting free food
2. ….getting to go on all the away games and road trips
3. …getting to go to the national conventions in places such as Nashville and Chicago
4. …being surrounded by baseball players all the time
5. …having the players over for holidays when they lived too far away to go home-they were dad’s family, too
6. …walking around Warrior field like I owned the place
7. …playing under the bleachers and doing flips on the bars that supported them while getting hit w/ people’s sunflower seeds
8. …watching him being recognized for many different hall of fames, but most notably the ABCA’s Hall of Fame
9. …BEING COACH BOWEN’S DAUGHTER. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS A PROUD MOMENT WHEN SOMEONE FIGURED OUT WHO I WAS!
10. …riding in the jitney
11. …getting to work out in the Stanislaus gym and even sneak into the locker room
12. …dad taking us to the CSU Stan pool to use, when no one else was there
13. …staring around his office while he was athletic director, completely in awe of his accomplishments

Off the field:

14. …going to Giants games
15. …meeting baseball greats who knew dad by first name
16. …spitting so many sunflower seeds my mouth became raw
17. …dad hooking me up w/ a job at the Modesto A’s one summer-a blast!
18. …dad coaching my softball team
19. …dad always bringing up the story of my “homerun to left field…it almost was out of the park…” he made it sound way better than what it was!
20. ….hanging out in dad’s study. I still love to sit in there and marvel at all of his balls, bats, awards, jerseys and true love of the game
21. …crazy answering machine message number 154-with an intro of dad singing “take me out to the ballgame”
22. …talent show at church w/ Rebecca and Sarah de la Motte when we were little girls-our routine? None other than singing “take me out to the ballgame” of course
My favorite moments of dad as a professor:
23. …being his TA for sports psychology
24. …the SOAP BOX (“the truth is spoken here”)
25. …hearing stories of him making his students sing in class
26. …helping him grade his papers-made me feel important though I always complained
27. …seeing him dress up in the clown suit to go to class every Halloween, complete w/ candy for his students. What professor does that? My dad.
28. …spotting him riding down Monte Vista to CSU Stanislaus on his bike, his trusty Schwinn..until it got stolen on campus
29. …his intense passion for education and being a lifelong learner

Dad as our DAD:

30. …crouching at the sliding door watching him use his sling shot to shoot rocks at the fence to get the stray cats out of our backyard
31. …dad and Kim tea parties in the playhouse
32. …”helping” him build and make projects
33. …his wooden santa claus’ and sleighs that he sold out of our garage and on the corner with Kortne
34. …his baseball Christmas scene and his homemade “Jesus is the Reason” sign
35. …his faith in God
36. …his stubborn personality and hard headedness that most often clashed w/ me because we were so much alike
37. …his OCD for cleanliness
38. …watching AssyriaVision and dad “talking” back to the TV
39. …watching the Stanislaus County Fair on TV just to see if he spotted anyone he knew
40. …his annoying and drawn out yawns
41. …dad’s dedication to his kids and grandkids. He never missed a sporting event or activity, whether we wanted him to or not
42. …him singing along to me playing the piano. He always made me feel like I was much better than I really was
43. …always standing up for what was right and what he believed in, regardless of who liked it
44. …his desire for his kids to go far in life. I can’t say we were pushed, but the importance of going to college, etc, was just engrained in us
45. …insisting we go to Baker’s Square for my college graduation meal. Really???
46. …watching him make his cinnamon rolls on Christmas eve and then eating 10 of them on Christmas morning
47. …he and mom reading nightly devotionals together
My favorite memories:
48. …staying with him (just me and him) at Stanford hospital after one of his intense rounds of chemo
49. …surprising me by walking me down the aisle at my wedding even though he didn’t even have the strength to attend the rehearsal the night before
50. …our daddy daughter dance, with the song that he so carefully chose “Find Your Wings”
51. …family dinners-we always sat down together as a family to eat, regardless of how busy he was
52. …dad interrupting my phone calls in high school to sing whatever song was in his head (though I didn’t appreciate it at the time)
53. …family trips to Pinecrest each year
54. …he and mom taking me to at least one college a month my junior year so I had a good feel for the campuses before I applied
55. …his love of Cool Hand Luke’s Steak and Bake special, and how happy he’d get going there for a meal
56. …putting up the Manzanita tree for Christmas, even though it was really weird looking, it was our own tradition
57. …dad as “game director” always setting up kickball and baseball games for us in the front yard, and the volleyball net in the pool
58. …dad as “game director” on our annual Pinecrest trips-watching him hula hoop was the best
59. …Mick’s and my surprise 40th/30th bday party
60. …getting in the wrong boat at Pinecrest on our very last trip
61. …watching him enjoy his little cheap bottles of wine
62. …wrapping Christmas presents with him using the oddest things we could find to cover the gift
63. …Christmas at Stanford Hospital-the first Christmas where gifts were truly not important and the realization that he was our ultimate gift
64. …taking time off work before he passed away to help mom take care of him. Best and worst memory all wrapped into one. I was able to take care of him like he had taken care of me for so many years
65. …dad giving me a tool kit of my very own for Christmas, complete with safety goggles. Still put them on whenever I whip out my tool kit, even if it’s just to hammer a nail into the wall…just cause…
66. …teaching me how to drive in the parking lot of…none other than Stanislaus…in the ’86 oldsmobile cutlass cierra
67. …mom and dad giving me my first car, an ’89 honda accord stick shift my sophomore year of college. I learned how to drive stick with dad in the passenger seat, heading back to school. It was sink or swim, and you didn’t sink w/ dad so I swam after a few minor mishaps 
68. …dad giving me “a little on the triangle” (aka a neck massage) when I had a migraine and me doing the same for him when he was in his final days

I know how lucky I am to have the parents that I have. I can truly say I am and have always been proud to call myself a Bowen, and Coach Bowen’s kid at that. For the last year, I have struggled to find my identity without him. I have finally come to a place where I am no longer lost and am realizing who I am as an individual….but his traits are abundant in me and I am thankful for that. I often give my mom a hard time saying that I got both of their worst traits (my mom’s migraines, my dad’s nose, etc) but I couldn’t be a luckier girl to have them both as the main examples in my life. I love you mom and dad. Dad, the days get easier but not one day goes by where I don’t think of you or miss you deeply. I love you! Happy birthday!!!!