mustache to beard
February 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment
My dad (pictured) is not actually my biological father, but from this early age he loved me enough to adopt me and take care of me while going to grad school at Johns Hopkins. Now I’m the dad, even though I’m nowhere near as good at it as my dad was.
We’re pretty different, my dad and I… he’s a hard-working, successful scientist, and I’m a laid-back music teacher. But there’s some things we do have in common, like our faith and our love of truth and the outdoors. I bet my daughter will be different from me in lots of ways too, but that’s ok!
Those backpacks are great by the way, our little girl loves it and squeals when we take her out in it.
a hand
February 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment
By recreating some of these photos I’ve found of my parents (I’m working on doing more), I’m understanding the story of my mom more intimately– just being in those poses does something to tell the story. My mom was this super-hot blonde girl who looks like a total supermodel party girl. Maybe, if she hadn’t gotten married and had kids, she would have seen the world, lived off a few dollars a day and have went to fabulous swingin’ parties, and stayed up late hanging out with bands and second tier celebrities, like I’m doing in LA. Maybe, in a way, I’m an expression of my mother in a completely different set of circumstances. Rather than thinking “I’m so different from her,” now, I think that we might be different parts of the same whole, and that maybe my mother is seeing herself in me as well; maybe I’m my mother in another dimension. Maybe I’m my mom on String Theory. Who knows.
the wedding
January 13, 2011 | 2 Comments
from Julie: I would like to think that I inherited my Mom’s sense of caring. I inherited my Dad’s ability to see things through. I definitely inherited both of their anxieties! Most importantly, I gained never-ending silliness. I love the goofiness in Austin, the same as I see in my parents. Also, the ability to take on any task/project and do it incredibly well, which is a trait my Dad has as well.
I truly value Austin’s love for family and closeness (and snuggling), as it is number 1 to me and my folks too.
from Austin: Without a doubt, I think Julie and I share complimentary versions of my mother’s sardonic, often twisted sense of humor, and with it, the carefree attitude towards others’ perception of what we find amusing. I (like to think I) have my father’s obstinate habit to put the needs of others before his own. Julie and my father are both gifted in staying clear of distraction and true to their path of all matters at hand.
All of six of us suffer from the same calamity of needing to have the last word.
