i forget most of the time all the little (and big) things i have in common with my dad. growing up through my teen years with my mom and sister (who are very alike in a lot of ways), i often felt different from them, and steadily felt weird or less than. they are both naturally tidy. they do weekly chores with dedication. this week at sunday lunch, we spoke at depth about my mom buying an expensive vacuum. i assumed that joy would tell her that it was too expensive for her budget, but instead she encouraged my mom to buy it because it was a very good vacuum. eventually, i had to say "i am not the right person to be talking to about this, because i don't vacuum very often". now that we have carpet downstairs, i vacuum once a week for roughly 10 minutes. joy vacuums every week for TWO hours. so having a good vacuum is worth every penny. their houses are guest-ready all the time. mine is not. it does make me feel like i'm failing, even though it's not something i value.

on the other hand... my dad is messy, but knows where to find things in his mess. he priorities cleaning/house work similar to i do (but probably slightly less because of social gender norms around house work), in a relaxed and optional manner.

tonight, we both attended a meeting at mbes tonight with my city councilor. i wasn't sure if he would stay the whole time, since it wasn't his district, but he did. he sat with the same posture as i did. we have much of the same quirks. brendan often says that "george will never die, as long as you're around". thankfully he finds my dad amusing, as well as wily and agile.

i'm very grateful to have been able to get to know my dad better as an adult. it helps me remember my place in my family, and not feel like an odd one out.