You're Just Like Your Dad
âYouâre just like your dad!â – my momâs favorite thing to say to me when she was upset with me. She said it with anger, resentment, and I think, jealousy.
My dad was my hero. He taught me so much about how to work, live, and have a great time. He encouraged me to pursue âthat computer stuffâ because I loved it, which led me to where I am now. Everything I have and everything I am is thanks to that man.
Thanks to my friends over at Simple Machine Brewing, I got the opportunity to create a beer dedicated to my hero, and show the world what a cool dude he was.
This oneâs for you, Pops!
Hug your dads and have a beer with them.
Born Raul Juan Gonzales, he told colleagues to call him John, he was known by family as Rudy. We just called him Pops.
Gallery
Click each image or video for its context and story.
Pops and I had maybe had like a couple or a dozen beers and decided to do a little karaoke duet. [January 14, 2016]
Having some beers with Pops and my aunt, enjoying some music. So happy I captured this, you can hear my dad's big laugh throughout this video. [April 2, 2016]
One of the many times I was bothering my dad while he was making tamales. He would tell me "man, go sit down and drink your beer, I'll let you know when they're ready." [November 18, 2017]
Quotes
Most of these were sourced from my own social media, as I frequently shared funny dad things there with friends.
Lots of bad words here, be advised đ
from Friends
“The first time I went over to the Gonzales household, I met the man that created 2 of the favorite people in my life. He would end up being the 3rd one. Through the next year or so of being over for different occasions, and general shenanigans, having Shelbys dad around was a big part of the fun, and the guy was always an overall joy to talk to about anything from cars, and random problems, all the way to the ways of the common hooligans. Shelby’s dad was one of a kind, and he’s fucking awesome.”
– Daniel Bright, one of my best friends.
So many days he would wake up on the couch in the living room, hungover from the night before, to my dad cooking him breakfast.
Short Stories and Memories
Same as the quotes, I often shared little tidbits of moments on social media. This section will read almost like a diary.
Coming home from work to find that my dad had bought me a 6 pack since I’m off work too late to buy beer on my way home, was pretty damn sweet. We ate pizza and checked out some cool hot rod shows on Netflix.
Totally made up for a shitty night at work.
November 9, 2013
My dad woke up and helped me wrap presents and went to get eggs for my cheesecake, and kept me company in the kitchen while I made it. And then got drunk with me.
December 24, 2015
My dad is here and he brought his cool car and he’s playing handyman around my house. But we’re taking a break now.
December 16, 2014
I had the shittiest day I’ve had in a while and my dad got me drunk and made me snacks and helped me make decisions.
He’s just the best dude in the world and I’m so glad I get to be his daughter.
(This was the day he encouraged me to quit my job and go back to school, assuring me that bills will be taken care of.)
February 22, 2016
Told my dad I wanted a beer but didn’t have any. Five minutes later, he did this cool ding-dong ditch shit to me and there were beers on the other side of my bedroom door.
Pops is a beer wizard? đ¤
March 17, 2020
My dad drank my whiskey but I ain’t even mad, he cleaned the fuck out of this asshole glass stovetop and I don’t know how he does it.
Whiskey, that’s how.
January 16. 2016
I’m drinking and cooking and my dad is encouraging me to put all the weird shit I suggest in my chili. I don’t think he realizes the influence he has on me, and that I will put green beans in this chili if he says it sounds like a good idea.
October 16, 2020
Looking at admin settings for my router, I see connected device, “FELICIA” and I think, “who the hell is Felicia?”
Then I remembered my dad told me he named his laptop that so when he puts it away, he can say, “bye, Felicia”.
October 18, 2017
Was complaining to my dad about how I missed my mango diablito treats last night. Guess who got surprised at work today with one?
February 1, 2015
My dad has been gone all afternoon. Went in the kitchen to check on my pizza after he got home and found him with two jars of Trader Joe’s Cowboy Caviar salsa and a jar of Cookie Butter.
I got him hooked and going there on his own now đ
(I had/have a bad Trader Joe’s habit that he picked up.)
April 13, 2020
My dad sent me a Thanksgiving box filled with treats and booze.
November 21, 2012
My dad knows I worked all damn day and probably didn’t eat, so I come home to tacos!
December 17, 2016
My dad is so proud and supportive of me. He’s all nice and took my car to get washed and made me snax all day while I worked. What a dude.
February 4, 2018
My house is the only house on the street with Christmas lights.
No not because I’m psyched about Christmas. My dad was bored and had beer and Christmas lights.
November 16, 2017
Came home to my dad giving me a beer and the BBQ going in the backyard.
January 11, 2015
Gonna get drunk with beer and margaritas and watch Clerks and get in the way of my dad doing dad things to my house now, bye world!
March 3, 2015
Came home from a stupid night at work to my house sparklin’ clean. My rad dad is rad.
April 3, 2015
My dad is the best, and yes, I am JUST like him. Suck it, mom.
September 28, 2011
Just talked to my dad on the phone for two hours, no one gets me like he does. I guess that’s because I am half of him. He’s always there when I need him, always willing to chat and listen to me whine and cry and help me feel better. Or he’ll just call and if I don’t answer, leave me a voicemail telling me a story, because he knows his stories always cheer me up. He’s my favorite person in the world, and the rest of you can come and go, I don’t care. Because I’ll always have this dude. And he will fuck you up if I need him to. My daddy is my hero, and I love him more than anyone.
November 17, 2012
When I was a general manager at Domino’s, we had an inspection. My store did really well but was just a few points short of â¨platinum â¨
My store had just been remodeled and one of the things I got marked off on was that the air vents in the ceiling in the lobby didn’t match the color of the ceiling tiles.
I told my dad this and on my day off, he said we will fix this. So we went to my store and got one of the ceiling tiles and took it to Lowe’s to color match the paint. We got the paint, then we went to my store and he got on a ladder and painted those goddamn vents for me.
Pops was always a catalyst for my success and happiness and I’m so grateful for everything he did for me and every day I got to be with him. He’s my favorite person always.
Also if you’re ever at the Domino’s on 51st ave and Thunderbird, look up and see those vents my dad painted for me.
One day when I was about 16, I was at home all day in my room on the computer, as I always was, and I asked my mom at some point during the day to take me up the street to Game Stop because I wanted a new PS2 game. She didn’t want to. She was an asshole.
Pops came home from work later that day and came to my room to check on me and chat with me like he did every day. I told him I was bummed because I wanted a new game and she wouldn’t take me. He said “okay let’s go now!” Dude just got done working like 10 hours and was probably exhausted but took the time to pop in and say hi and do a nice thing for me. That was the day I bought Half Life, one of my favorite video games to this day!
As a kid, my mom and I visited my dad at work to bring him some lunch one hot summer afternoon. He worked as a service advisor at damn near every car dealership in the valley. I was sitting at his desk waiting for him to finish with a customer, and I saw this school photo of myself taped to his computer monitor. I never knew the context of what he had written on it. One night in 2013, I was telling my dad about this story I had read on the internet, about to ask him if this was where he got the idea. He pulled this same picture out of his wallet before I even finished what I was saying.
“Before Maggie was born, Homer Simpson worked at the Nuclear Plant because he needed the money to pay for all the debt. Once Homer Simpson finally paid the debt, he quit his job to work at his dream job at the bowling alley. When Homer Simpson found out that Marge was pregnant with Maggie, he became depressed that he had to quit his job at the bowling alley because the salary couldnât support them. When Homer Simpson begged Mr. Burns for his old life back, he put up a plaque that reads âDonât Forget: Youâre Here Forever.â When Maggie was born, Homer instantly fell in love with her. When Lisa asks Homer where all Maggieâs baby pictures went, Homer explains that he keeps them where he needs them the most.”
Eulogy
Raul “Rudy” Gonzales of Phoenix, Arizona went on to check out what’s next on February 6th, 2021. Rudy was born on June 24th, 1956 in El Paso, Texas to Frances and Richard. The life Rudy lived between these two dates cannot be summarized, no matter how hard we try. Rudy grew up in San Jose, California before moving to and “settling down” in Phoenix. He was a hard-working man who knew how to party even harder. He enjoyed a cold beer, classic rock, hot rods, “hippie lettuce”, and being left alone. He was a fountain of knowledge, wisdom, and good times – all of which he generously shared with everyone around him, often earning him the esteemed title of everyone’s “Uncle Rudy.”
He will be missed dearly by everyone who had the opportunity to meet him, even once. Rudy’s life was anything but one wasted. His resilient legacy lives on through his daughter, Shelby, and son, Jonathan. They and his sisters Ana and Carmen will be forever grateful for the memories Rudy has left them with. He is preceded in death by his mother and father, and his brother, Richard; all next to whom he was laid to rest in Manteca, California.
"My father didn't tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it."
– Clarence Budington Kelland