a priceless gift

Yesterday, my dad and I explored all over Pike Place market and picked out presents for my family. Today my dad bought a hat then commented, "so far we've gotten something for everyone but you!" I got my gift though, and it was the best!

Part of our trip to Seattle kind of bombed.. we were going to go sky diving but the weather just wasn't cooperating! That's alright though, we can reschedule and try again another time for no extra cost. But the trip itself? Priceless.

I'm kind of into music and art, playing fourteen instruments or so, singing, composing, conducting, painting, drawing, photography... yeah that's me. Plus being really good at math and the sciences, but I don't focus on them nearly as much. Anyway, my dad is an engineer, and because of our differences in interests, we haven't always seen eye to eye. Sometimes we have trouble relating to each other, though we can find common ground in some of the technical stuff.
Today though, that kind of changed. Instead of going sky diving, we got to spend some time touring Boeing facilities, and going to visit Seattle's EMP both. Years ago, my dad worked for Boeing. And the EMP was for me and my musical, artsy side. The best though was just talking. He told me stories from when he worked at Boeing, and we talked about airplanes and engineering and the building and all sorts of cool stuff. He even told me the reason he worked for Boeing at all.

When he was little, he had heard stories about his father working at Boeing. Then coming out of college, he got an offer from them. The pay wasn't the best, but in weighing the pro's and con's he thought that he didn't really need to take that job, might've been better off with another one, but if he didn't take it, he would spend the rest of his life kicking himself, wishing he had, feeling like he missed out. So he did it.

All of a sudden, I knew that my dad understands how I feel. My situations may be completely different, like going to a concert or being a part of another ensemble, and we may not think we can relate. But now I know we can. He understands. That was a great feeling to know all of a sudden.

Later, we were stopped for a bit in a parking lot, and I jumped out of the car to take some pictures. He waited patiently for me to do it. When I came back I tried to explain why I do it, what it means to me. He surprised me again. He may not do the things I do, may not like all of the things that I like, but he understands what I say with them. He's encouraging me to do them, and he sees through MY eyes the beauty in them.

So to sum up....
sky diving: $250
really talking to my dad: Priceless

You can't put a value on family