Tributes
Edmund Wong - Son
My father was always a loving and dedicated family man. He expressed his love for my mother, sister, brother and myself through the balance of his strong work ethics to provide for his family and spending quality time with each one of us.
When growing up as a kid, I remembered seeing his great dedication and love for us every day when he had to go into work as an engineer for the military. He would put in long hours at his job during the weekdays. After work, he would come home tired, but would quickly change to comfortable clothes, bring out the wok, and start preparing a delicious Chinese meal for dinner for my brother, sister, and myself since my mother usually had the evening shift at work. Afterwards, he would study hard for a business degree, wanting to better provide for our family's future needs.
During the weekends, he would always make sure that whatever he planned would be a family affair. In our Carlsbad home, we would help him out with his landscaping projects, which included building a deck, horse swing, and a hot tub. I have treasured memories of helping him nail wood together for the hot tub and relaxing in the soothing water with him in the evenings. When he was running a computer resale business, I would come with him to work on Saturdays and help him out with office paperwork. Whenever there was a free weekend, he wanted to bring the entire family out to enjoy Balboa Park, Sea World, the zoo, visit family friends, or eat at a new Chinese restaurant. When we were living in our Del Mar home, Bryan and myself would go with him to our Carlsbad rental home to rake up leaves, mow the lawn, and pull weeds. Back then, I didn't enjoy making that trip on the weekends to do yard work, but now I realize that it was one way how my dad was expressing his love. He wanted to spend quality time with me by including me into his passion for house maintenance and landscaping.
Now that I have a family of my own, I have a deeper appreciation and understanding of my father's love and his influence in my life. I am so thankful that I was able to spend so much quality time with my father growing up. He could have easily gone off to do his own thing when he had free time, but he chose to make his family the highest priority in everything he did. I hope to reflect that same dedication to my family.
Dad, I miss you and love you very much.