(my handsome dad in high school)
when i was little my dad seemed larger than life. he could do magic tricks with the windshield wipers and make them turn on by snapping his fingers. he could prevent airplanes from crashing by making sure we all ate an airport hotdog before boarding. he would zip us around in various sports cars so that my hair went flying behind me. he could charm his way in or out of any situation so it felt like the possibilities were endless. he could eliminate bad guys with his terrifying glare or slicing words. he could entertain rooms full of people with his hilarious (mostly true) stories. he could do math tricks and word games that astounded me. he could throw baseballs or hit golf balls with a precision that drew applause. (he always loved an audience.) he would serenade me with songs and original poems so that i never questioned how much i was loved.
(one of the sassy little cars - and sassier SHOES!)
then at some point, probably in high school, i began to find some of these talents and quirks of his embarrassing. while i was trying to keep a low profile, his remained enormous. when i wanted to follow all the conventional rules at the airport or a venue or a restaurant, he was circumventing them and finding loopholes. when his protective glares used to make me feel safe, i now worried that he would upset someone. the songs and poems that previously had elicited peals of laughter, now made me crimson. “oh GOD dad!” i would say. and he would reply, “when it’s just the two of us, you can call me DAD!”
and just like that (to quote darren star) sometime in my twenties i realized that all of those “embarrassing” quirks and talents were what made my father especially wonderful. not everyone has a dad who can never golf in shorts because his legs are so BEAUTIUFL he can’t risk getting distracted and messing up his swing. not every dad is capable of making up just the right word that doesn’t yet exist to enhance his stories or describle a feeling. not every dad can identify sonatas (the piece and often the orchestra playing it) after just a few notes in one moment and remind you to “fart proudly” in the next. not every dad has “lightning fast reflexes” so that you know you are safe in his presence from anything that might come at you. not every dad always buys an extra chocolate bar for the check out guy when he’s at the market or brings special treats to all of his appointments with doctors, hair cutters, trainers (karen!) … it could be a book or a piece of pie or an interesting article… not every dad tells their child, “i love you higher than the sky is high and deeper than the ocean is deep” so frequently that she is always wrapped up in that love. i am so LUCKY to have that kind of dad. HAPPIEST FATHER’S DAY to the man who claims to be, “just the average dad,” when he clearly is exceptional. x0x0x
(absolutely a TIP TOP grandpa - theo on my dad’s shoulders in stockholm)
(lulu and my dad in the good old days when our favorite restaurant, cesar still existed…)
