It is Christmas Day Night. I'm in Austin watching football in the living room with my dad. The scene is familiar. We both have our computers out. My mom is in bed. My brother is downstairs. The tree is lit, Christmas present debris is scattered about. Every now and then someone makes a trip to the kitchen. Earlier, my dad's nap overlapped mine by about a half hour. Despite some anxiety about spending a week here, I am so relaxed that I slept over 10 hours last night.
Clicking through pictures, I discovered these from October when my parents and I went to Dallas for my cousin's wedding. Between the wedding and the reception we stopped at the very first house my parents bought and where they lived when I was born.
When we stopped Dad decided to knock on the next-door-neighbors' door and see if they were still living there. Mom and I stayed in the car (I felt too self-conscious) but he was gone so long talking to the woman that opened the door, I eventually went up. The woman was the daughter-in-law of the couple that lived next door to my parents. She was delightful and my father was ecstatic (if you know my dad, you know this means he smiled a lot).
He introduced me and we finally let her go back inside. Before we left I really wanted to take a picture of us at their first house, but I was afraid to mention it. Strange and useless fear comes over me at times but I've learned to be objective. I'd regret it if I didn't. I said something and now I could see my father was kinda uncomfortable. But we got ourselves arranged, snapped a couple of pics and got on our way to the reception.
Daddy was so excited we stopped. He talked about it the rest of the way to the wedding. He mentioned regretting not knocking on the next door neighbor's a few years ago when they had driven by. It clearly made him very happy and it warmed my heart in a place that is rarely open for my father.
Clicking through pictures, I discovered these from October when my parents and I went to Dallas for my cousin's wedding. Between the wedding and the reception we stopped at the very first house my parents bought and where they lived when I was born.
When we stopped Dad decided to knock on the next-door-neighbors' door and see if they were still living there. Mom and I stayed in the car (I felt too self-conscious) but he was gone so long talking to the woman that opened the door, I eventually went up. The woman was the daughter-in-law of the couple that lived next door to my parents. She was delightful and my father was ecstatic (if you know my dad, you know this means he smiled a lot).He introduced me and we finally let her go back inside. Before we left I really wanted to take a picture of us at their first house, but I was afraid to mention it. Strange and useless fear comes over me at times but I've learned to be objective. I'd regret it if I didn't. I said something and now I could see my father was kinda uncomfortable. But we got ourselves arranged, snapped a couple of pics and got on our way to the reception.
Daddy was so excited we stopped. He talked about it the rest of the way to the wedding. He mentioned regretting not knocking on the next door neighbor's a few years ago when they had driven by. It clearly made him very happy and it warmed my heart in a place that is rarely open for my father.
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| Joy demonstrating how NOT to hold the camera when facing the sun. |
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