Friday, October 9, 2009

what's up with the knobby knees ...

have you ever wondered about that photo on my blog ... the little girl with the knobby knees and the well-suited man ... well that's me and my dad ... i am proudly sporting my brownie outfit ... the knobby knees are gone but i do still own the sweet brown tam ...

my bestest childhood girlfriend, shawna, and i were proud brownies ... we danced around the toadstool, we thrilled at the crafts (my favorite craft being a turtle we made out of a walnut shell), we went camping and loved the crafts ... did i mention the craft part ...

we lived in a small mining town in ontario where the winters were long and cold with lots of snow ... and i loved them ...

let me tell you a bit about my dad ... he was a small man in stature but a huge man in personality ... now i don't mean the kind of loud personality that fills a room ... i mean the quiet kind of personality that speaks without talking ...

when my dearly beloved and i were married, our photographer asked my dad if he wanted to stand on a phone book so i wouldn't appear taller than him in photos ... being the kind of man he was, never wanting to appear to be something he wasn't, he said "no" ...

sadly, my dad died many years ago, before i had children much to my regret ... in his wallet, next to photos of his 4 children, my dad carried this tiny newspaper clipping entitled "thought du jour" or thought of the day:

The only thing that does make us feel good about ourselves, if this is what we are after, is doing things of which we feel proud or which we deem to be worthwhile.  In other words, self-esteem is a by-product of action and can never be a goal in itself....Self-estem is a red herring.  It comes, it goes.  It gives us a nice feeling when we have it, but no more, no less.
this is for all the dads out there ... large and small ...

have a great weekend ...

2 comments:

  1. I had the good fortune to meet your Dad once - when you and Jeff lived in Action and had your first Christmas/winter party. Although it was only once, I still distinctly remember him standing there in your living room, by himself with a hint of a smile, watching everyone in their little groups chatting, eating, whatever. It as if he was just soaking in the merry atmosphere of the season and enjoying watching everyone having a good time. I went over and chatted with him and recalled how gentle and kind both he, and his voice, was. I never had the opportunity to see him again, as it was a mere 5 months later that he passed...however...he left an everlasting impression... xoxo

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  2. thanks KAT ...

    sort of a personal blog post for me but something i wanted to share ... and i guess i find it easiest to speak from the heart ...

    miss you girlfriend ...

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