To be more like my Dad...

I've always been proud to be like my Grandma Anderson. Whenever someone tells me, "That's so Grandma" I feel a little more special. And, it is only natural for me to have most of my mom's traits. She raised me, after all. But, now that I'm an adult and not only an adult, but actually living around my family, for once; I'm realizing that there are some character traits my dad has that I would like to acquire.

The first time I noticed it was our trip to Indiana. My dad is extremely observant. Like a fortune teller, he can look at a situation and know, not only what will happen, but also what HE needs to do to make it easier on everyone else. It's mostly the little things and in hindsight it seems like things we should all be thinking about, but don't. Just for one silly example, we stopped at a rest stop (or was it a hotel?) and with out thinking how it would affect me or anyone else I immediately got Jacey out of her seat. In my mind, I wanted to get her out as soon as possible because I knew she was probably tired of being in there. But, as I got out of the truck, if it hadn't been for my dad ready with the stroller, I wouldn't have known what to do with her once we were out of the truck. At each stop, my dad would go to the back and start unloading what we needed at that stop. But, with out fail, when he saw me emerge from the truck with Jacey, he stopped what he was doing and set up the stroller. It was so well timed that I never had to wait to lay her down in it, and I never even noticed how observant that was of my dad until one time it wasn't me holding Jacey and I saw him do it for my mom. I was standing off probably doing nothing, watching my dad unload stuff and my mom with Jacey and it NEVER occurred to me she would need the stroller. It would have occurred to me when she, while holding Jacey, was trying to get the stroller out of the truck. Then, I would have jumped in and helped out; but my dad notices (or just knows) from the very beginning what will be needed and how he needs to help. He probably assessed the situation from the very first stop how things would go. He watched and learned what mom, Emma, Jacey and I all did, habitually, at each stop and planned how he would unload the truck from that point on. At the risk of making him sound less the genius that he is, he was like a well-programmed robot. Get out of the truck, open the luggage compartment, pull the luggage forward, Tiffany and Jacey will be getting out of the truck in 3, 2, 1...stroller, go. Hold out right arm to keep Emma from running in the street, kiss wife....and the program goes on.

By the time we got home, I was noticing more and more about my dad that I hadn't noticed before. Qualities that I was jealous I didn't have and I started watching him more. It was a couple social situations later that I decided once and for all I wanted to try and be more like my dad. When people talk to me I take each and every word very literally. If someone uses a cliche wrong or uses improper grammar or tells a story I've already heard, I'll be polite but I'm short with my responses because on the inside I'm really irritated. I don't really enjoy conversation and for the most part, am always trying to end it so I can move on. My dad isn't a social butterfly, but he will talk to someone as if they are his best friend and what they are saying is the most important thing he's heard that day. He knows exactly how to talk to people to make them feel like what they were saying was interesting or funny. My dad knows EVERYTHING, but someone who talks to him unawares of that fact would never come to learn it just by talking to him. He doesn't boast about his knowledge and I've never heard him say, "Oh, ya I know that" or like statements. Instead he'll simply embellish on what you just said to further your own knowledge or he'll make a witty comment often leading to a new subject. I've seen him act outright surprised and enthusiastic about certain subjects that I know very well he already knows everything about. Or maybe he doesn't and I just assume he does. But, either way, when ever I talk to my dad I feel like he's really interested and enjoying the conversation whether he is or not. And I'm sure others feel the same. He always talks to mom with such love and admiration like she's the only person on the planet when she speaks to him, like he trusts and believes every word she says.

When I talk to someone I naturally assume everything they say is a lie or has some hidden meaning behind it. And I'm sure that's why I don't enjoy conversation. I've always taken my words very seriously. I LITERALLY mean every word I say right down to the ifs, ands or buts. It drives me nuts that I use words like stuff and thing because I know I'm not being as accurate as I could. And I listen to people in the same manner. If something they say isn't quite right I almost cut myself off from listening to them further because I can't figure out their hidden agenda behind their words. When in all reality I'm sure they didn't even realize what they said was a little off and it CERTAINLY doesn't matter. I really need to just calm down, relax and find the parts of a conversation that I can enjoy, the way my dad does.

I'm sure over his many years, my dad has learned to do these things naturally. He probably doesn't even know he's doing it. It's just the way he is now. He doesn't have to try. But, I want to try and be more like him in these areas. It's a practiced art for someone like me who's already pretty set in her ways. But, I really do want to make these few changes to the way that I am.