Lately, my daughter has told me that a few of her friends think I’m weird. And I asked her, “Do you think I’m weird?” Her answer was a yes. The conversation couldn’t have been more timely. If I had heard these comments at an earlier time I may have felt hurt by them. But the topic of my “weirdness” and where I get it from has been on my radar. I think it’s common for kids to think that their parents are weird at some point. But I have thought that about my Dad for a very very long time. I’ve even felt embarassed by it. My Dad is quirky and eccentric to say the least. He definitely walks to the beat of a different drummer. He use to a professional singer and I use to watch him perform. And although he was and still is an amazing singer and performer he also dressed, well, weird. When I got to about 13, I asked him to where his tuxedo instead of his normal Tom Jones meets Elvis Presley type of get up because I was going to be in the crowd and didn’t want to be associated with him. I also remember at Disneyland one time that he heard some music playing and out of nowhere he jumps up in the air, does a spin and lets out an “Owwwww” James Brown style and wales, “I feel good”. I wanted to run in the bushes in hide. His style has always drawn attention and I’m afraid not always in a positive way. He was once on an airplane coming from Vegas and the airline crew thought he was a Vegas perfomer because of his get up.
He says and does off the wall things. He acts like a jester sometimes. I mean he put his driver’s side car seat in his van on to a swivel base so when he goes star watching he can see the stars easier for God’s sake. We ran into Kirstie Alley at Ghiradellis chocolates in San Francisco once and he had no hesitation walking up to her and telling her “My daughter is the next Kirstie Alley”. I wanted to jump in a vat of chocolate and drown. He knows he’s weird and says it all the time. And I’ve thought to myself, “Well, if you know your weird then why don’t you change and be normal?” I’ve always wanted my Dad to be and act what I perceive to be “normal.”
But an interesting thing has happened lately. I’ve started to see my Dad in a different light. I’ve started to see his weirdness is actually pretty entertaining and endearing. I see that at the end of the day, he just wants to make me laugh and smile. Because I’m starting to really embrace how truly different I am and now understanding that to some I may be perceived as “weird”, I can now appreciate the weirdness in him. I can now also see how much of a cheerleader my Dad is for me and always has encouraged me to let the real me be expressed and not try to be something I’m not just to fit in. He came to visit last week and as I watched him interact with my daughter I saw the exact body movements I use. I then noticed later on in the day that I was talking to Paris with the same goofiness that my dad talks to me. Continue reading »