I see my dad about once a month, usually when we're going out for a family birthday dinner or something. Ever since he had a stroke about 10 years ago, he's had to use a cane to help him walk. He lost use of his right arm, so he can't drive anymore either. So someone always has to drive him places. I usually do it. It's really funny because I've been driving for like 15 years now - and I've never been in an accident or gotten a speeding ticket - but as soon as that man sets foot in my car, he starts backseat driving like nobody's business.
According to him, I turn corners too quickly, I'm not gentle enough with the brakes, and I speed. There's nothing like being reduced to feeling like a 16 year old again. It's true though - no matter how old he gets or how old I get, he's still there to strum my pain about something or other.
Even though he can't use his right arm, he still manages to one-finger type me these emails about how I need to lower my cholesterol, eat more veggies, and exercise more. First of all, it's amazing that he knows how to use the internet. Secondly, I can't keep count of how many e-health newsletters he forwards to me with his added message of "do it!!!" It's pretty funny actually. I always imagine him sitting there, typing with his left-hand index finger with lots of vigor. He sends copies to my siblings too, who are much older than me, so it's even funnier that he's nagging full-grown adults still. But I guess that's the nature of being a parent, right?
Although he strums my pain most of the time, there are other times where he talks about things that kind of surprise me, and make me realize that he's a lot more savvy than I give him credit for. I think it's hard, for me at least, to think of my dad as an actual person, rather than just that guy who nags me all the time. I think I get my stubbornness from him though. That man can argue. But so can I.
I think I get my sense of humour from my mom. She had a weird sense of humour and always cracked goofy jokes. I remember when I was a kid, she told me about some old Chinese saying about cats - that there's nothing colder than a cat's nose, and there's nothing stinkier than cat's pee. lol. My dad told me some other chinese saying, about how human beings have 2 things in common that they need in order to survive: food and sex. Yeah, I remember standing there thinking, ew, my dad just said 'sex' - gross. But he's right, I guess. It's just hard to think about parents as people, with senses of humour, cracking bad jokes just like you do with their friends, and just being regular people. Every now and then, I try to remind myself that.
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