I just spent 4 full days traveling with my dad. It’s no secret that I was nervous about having to travel with him. I left home for college 20 years ago, and I haven’t lived with my dad since. In fact, last time I spent this amount of time with my dad was probably over 15 years ago. These are some things that I realized during the last 4 days.
Then – when I was 8 years old:
- My dad was cooler than Superman.
- My dad took me on my first roller coaster ride.
- My dad took me and my cousins bike riding around the neighborhood.
- My dad taught me to hop around on my pogo-stick.
- My dad patched me up when I fell and bled.
- My dad cleaned up my puke.
- My dad dragged me to go walk a mile during the summers. And he walked faster than me!
- My dad knew how to do everything!
Now – 30 years later:
- He doesn’t seem so cool anymore.
- He isn’t as adventurous as he once was.
- He worries about everything I do.
- He has no concept of personal space.
- He wants to take a photo every 2 minutes.
- He nags too much.
- He can’t keep up with me when we walk.
- He has forgotten how to do a lot of things.
How 30 years have made a huge difference on my perception of my dad. There are a lot of things that went through my mind these past 4 days… What’s strange is that when I was 8 years old and thought my dad was cooler than Superman, he was about my age now… that’s weird…
well, I’m sure I will be writing more about what I experienced, felt, and learned. But for now, all I know is that one things hasn’t changed from then and now… I’m still daddy’s little girl, and no matter how much he drives me crazy at times, i love him, and i know he loves me!
gloria s. lee 