When I was growing up, my dad was typically the parent who took me out to various experiences. … He took me ice skating at the mall ice arena. He took us to the Del Mar (later San Diego County) Fair every summer. He took us to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant on Friday evenings. And he and I saw so many movies together — from “Star Wars” to “Hoosiers,” to “Annie” and “Back to the Future.”
High on the list of favorite outings with dad were the San Diego State Aztec football games at the venue formerly known as Jack Murphy Stadium. The first time we went to a football game was fall 1980, when I was 5 years old (we moved to San Diego when dad started his career at SDSU in 1979). We sat in the bleacher seats and I remember telling my mom later that it was a good thing my sister, Ellye, didn’t go to the game because there were so many peanut shells on the ground (Ellye was 1 at the time). I want to be clear … I knew NOTHING about football when I was young (and would say that’s only slightly changed as I’ve grown older). But, I loved going to those Aztec games with my dad.
I grew up in the 1980s, when we didn’t photograph every experience. So I don’t have photos of me and dad doing things. But, after that first football game, I drew this picture for my kindergarten show-and-tell that week. I took a photo of it years ago and I believe my dad still has it, among a few saved items from his daughters.