As we begin a new year and make our resolutions and look for our fresh starts, I look back a little and contemplate my life with my Dad.
I have lived in the same house with him over the years (off and on) for almost 50 years of my life. That ain’t nuthin’. It just worked out that way. I didn’t seek it out and I don’t know if my parents did either but there you have it.
Our lives have been exceedingly intertwined. For good, for bad and for everything inbetween. We know each other well. Heck, I’ve been his choral conductor for 32 years now!
hmmm….maybe my “being in charge” of his choral life has helped me be in charge of his real life now that he needs me to do so. Interesting.
I watch him do his jigsaw puzzles and think sometimes that our lives are just like his puzzles. They are sometimes so frustrating to put together and sometimes so easy to find the right piece. And we always start with the framework around the puzzle – in fact, he measures it out with his tape measure before he starts a puzzle so he can estimate the amount of “edge” pieces he needs to look for. Where are the borders and the boundaries? What contains the puzzle so that it fits properly into the space and upon his table?
This new year will see me doing a lot more puzzling in order to fit everything together and create an interesting but realistic picture of our lives together.
