Karl

Papa is the most DIY man I’ve ever met. In my 14 years knowing him, I’ve only seen him hire a plumber once. In this time, he has remodeled our 100-year-old house, fathered two brilliant children, dreamed up a restaurant concept with me, turned an old fast-food restaurant building into a lovely casual-dining restaurant, was a critically acclaimed chef-owner, built a tiny house, built a shed, worked as a handyman, tile man, glass block man and a chef. He has talents he doesn’t even know about. He’s the kind of guy who gets things done. I lovingly call him “The Latvian”, because I remember visiting the Coral Castle in Homestead, FL where the tour guides explain how no one ever saw Latvian Ed Leedskalnin carve and erect the 1,100 tons of coral rock. See, Papa is a first-generation American–half Latvian and half German. I can only attribute his mysterious way of accomplishing a stone walking path in the time it takes me to go to the grocery store to his Latvian/German heritage. He amazes me, inspires me and through example reminds me that I can always do more.

–Hari