Down the Rabbit Hole

Vonnegut's Voice, Spring and My father

Today is my Dad's birthday. In my eyes he is still young and vibrant, scarcely qualified to hold that AARP card. I see him most every day, having working with him now for almost twenty years, and I don't think I've ever seen him looking so fit and happy. Part of it is that he has seemed to find his true match, a woman who loves not just him; but also his family as an extension of him. The home they have made is warm and welcoming and their life together is an inclusive melding of both families. I think also he has reached a point in his life when he is beginning to enjoy his success, relaxing into a life that has more balance between the work and the play.

I feel as if I have been on the front lines with him for these last two decades, watching him work harder and longer than most people do in a lifetime. My father has been straight up working, forging a life for himself and his children since he was not much more than a kid himself. There have been difficult years. I've seen him make deep sacrifices to keep the doors open. I've read the disappointment in the lines of his face when he's been betrayed by the people closest to him. I've heard his frustration and outrage in early morning calls when the company has been dealt a bad blow. I've also witnessed the compassion he has extended our employees and colleagues in their times of need and been touched by his show of pride for his staff and for the reputation and success his company has forged. At all times my father has been an impassioned leader and willing mentor. He's also never forgotten to still be a Dad when he's needed too. He's graciously listened to my rants and counseled me as neutrally as he could, even if it meant entertaining the prospect of me leaving or moving on. He has been unfailing supportive in all things.

As he celebrates another birthday, I take a pause and to reflect on the example he has been and continues to be for me as a parent and as an employer. I'm thankful as much for the intersect of those two roles in my life, as I am for the times when life has dictated their separation.


"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
DAY 1086 March 2, 2017
Prompt: Spring. Green grass, bunnies, robins, rain, Easter. Let's write about spring. Megan

The wind is gusting outside the window and rattling the loose panes. It is the shrieking messenger of a winter not yet ready to free us from its grasp. Snow showers are predicted for the weekend. The landscape is still marred by piles of dirty snow. It is hard to envision Spring these days despite the insistent, pastel-colored displays in the seasonal Target aisle. Still, it is March...and the budding trees and peeping greenery can not be too far off.

"Blogging Circle of Friends "
DAY 1568 March 2, 2017
Kurt Vonnegut said,, "I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." Do you agree or disagree with his thinking? Where do you prefer to be on the edge or smack in the middle? Have you read Vonnegut? What did you think of his writing style?

I'm not sure I was ever inclined to live on the edge, even as a single woman. I might have tested a few boundaries or two but never pushed myself to the edge of anything other than my sanity. Outside of required reading for school, I've never read much of Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse Five remains the most memorable work I can recall reading. It has been years but I can remember Vonnegut's distinctive voice in the telling of Billy Pilgrim's life story. I remember thinking that is was darkly manic, both the story and Vonnegut's writing style.