I Remember

So, it's my Dad's birthday today. Actually, his 60th. The only thing is that he died almost 10 years ago this coming January from alcoholism-related poor health. I had expected him to pass away early, but not that soon.

So, as I think about careers outside this home...as well as my previous professional & academic lives. I think about and remember how positive my father was in fostering and nurturing my identity as a woman and as a person of color. I also love how he was compassionate, considerate, and empathetic of others. He was crazy funny and unabashedly silly...something I think I inherited from him. I also inherited his love of history, esp. US history.

Anyway...today, I remember. I remember the first man in my life...the one who helped to shape the woman I am and becoming everyday. I think about how he's helped to raise the grandkids he's never met by how he raised me. I remember the silly man who would give me, my cousins, and the neighborhood kids rides on the riding lawnmower that, after time, would only drive straight. I remember the Chinese American man born in Washington, DC that spoke with a slight Southern twang. I remember the embarassing outfits and him wearing these ridiculously ugly red plaid house slippers to McDs...but not even giving a shitake. Because, that's who he was...and sometimes, that's who I need to be.

I remember.