My Father, Gerock Swanson (Gery)

 DADDY'S GIRL

- Shannan Swanson, Tastybaby Co-Founder

Being the youngest of four children, I was a “daddy’s girl”.  My two sisters and brother had many medical problems while I was growing up.   My mother spent most of her time taking care of them and as a result I spent most of my time with my father.  I preferred watching football with him to watching cartoons with my friends.  I jumped at any chance I had to spend time with him, in lieu of a play date. We each shared a mutual admiration for macaroni & cheese and hamburgers and would eat them any chance we could!  I loved his taste in music, especially his John Denver 8-Track (oh no, I may have just given away
my age!)

Throughout my life, my father spoiled me with many gifts.  On my birthdays, he sent cake and ice cream to school.  For Valentine’s Day, he sent me flowers for my desk.  But the best gift my father gave me was confidence in my abilities.  I can remember as a young child having talking with him about my dreams.  Even then, I knew I wanted to something to affect change in the world and he championed me to excel in whatever I was doing.  He encouraged me to work hard to reach my goals.  He did not criticize me for my failures.  I looked to him for advice on everything.

When I told him that I wanted to go to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris, he was overjoyed!  At the time, I fought with my decision because I did not want to leave him.  He was struggling at the time with lung disease and was awaiting a double lung transplant.  He begged me to go because he wanted me to follow my dream to become a chef.  He bragged to his friends that he was going to never go hungry again!

Half way through my first year at cooking school he underwent his surgery.  I came home from Paris to help him recover.  Sadly, he died five weeks after his operation.

I went back to cooking school in a malaise.  Paris became my salvation.  I could have fallen apart, but used the lesson’s my
father taught me to get me through.  I focused on cooking and found comfort in creating.

It has been almost twelve years since he passed away.  There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.  He was not only an amazing father, but I can honestly say he was my best friend and I loved and adored him.  Now that I have my own children, I hope to forge the same kind of bond that I had with my father.  As a parent, I know my greatest joys in life will come from shepherding them as my father did with me.

My parents, Gery and Fran, in Hawaii circa 1982