Mood: Thankful
I've been remiss. The other night I was on my way home from work and my cell phone rang. Dad. "Hey, how about you meet me and buy me dinner." TRANSLATION- "meet me for dinner, I'll buy." Of course, I went.
The relationship I have with my father is different than the one that I share with mom. My mother likes to know every intimate detail of every day. Although I've told her that my life is not that interesting...it doesnt matter.
Dad, on the other hand has always been a "I'm going to let you go your own way..and if you need me..you know where I am" kinda guy. I love that. When my first marriage was ending..the person I dreaded telling the most was dad. I've always been afraid of disappointing him. When I did muster up the nerve to break the news to him, with tears in my eyes I said" dad, I'm so sorry to have disappointed you." He looked me straight in the eye and he said "Listen closely...this is how much you've disappointed me" Dead silence. Nothing. I looked at him funny and he said "In no way could you ever disappoint me."
Although I love my mom very much, dad is the person that I closest resemble in personality and temperament. It's his evil glare that I give to anyone who crosses me. It's his loud raucous laughter that greets anyone who amuses me. Its his twisted sense of humor that I unleash on anyone within striking distance.
Since I am a tomboy it was only natural that I do all the "guy" type stuff with him. I helped him install speakers in the Chevy Blazer. Instead of the PINK CAMARO that a lot of 16 year old girls got when they got their licenses. I drove a mustard yellow ford courier pickup truck, gunrack behind the seat, thank you very much. Camper shell on the back. Yeah...it was stick shift and I didn't know how to drive a stick shift.
Dad tried to teach me. TRIED being the operative word. Instead he turned the task over to a girlfriend of mine who had a drivers license. "Take her out on the levees....don't bring her back till she can drive the thing" Two hours later we returned...I parked it in the driveway(almost running into the garage). To this day, my car is a stick shift.
Instead of taking me to purchase a frilly prom dress, he bought me a mossberg .22 caliber rifle, a scope, a shooting jacket and signed me up as a member of a rifle team. Thats ok...I look stupid in frills and I would have tripped over the hem of the dress. The gun still fits and I can shoot the ears off a flea at 50 paces.
No matter what I or my sister need, no matter when, he's there. With a truck, with a room to stay in while we sort out our life, with a trip to mexico. He never tells us how to run our lives, or what mistakes we made. He just tells us "ok..what can we do to make this whole thing better?"
I need to thank him for that. Yes, I certainly do. Hmmm. Thanks Dad. I was, and am, a lucky girl.
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