Please Don't Do That Again

OK, I just want to say for the record that even though my parents may a) be way more religious than I am (which is not at all), and b) be way more politically conservative than I am (which again, is not at all), and c) have way more kids than I want to have (which is none at all)...they're still all right people.

My parents and I have never been close at all. I certainly would never call them up if I was upset over not getting into a grad school program or a bad breakup. I never told them about the people I was dating until I found out near the end of college that my mom thought I was a lesbian because I didn't talk about the guys I dated. Hell, I didn't even tell them I was having nose surgery until after the fact.

So it was a little surprising when I was getting ready to leave our family's Father's Day party last night and my dad pulled me aside and told me he would really like to take me out to dinner sometime near the end of July, before I head off to school. I was thinking, "Sure. That'll happen. The last time you promised to take me out to dinner, for my 16th birthday, we never went out until two and a half years later." The fact that he made such a statement wasn't surprising. What was surprising was what came next: Tears started welling up in his eyes as he said, "Because you will probably never move back to Minnesota and you'll be off around the country. And I'll miss you. Because you will always be my daughter."

Then he stood up to give me a hug, another rarity in my house, while I mumbled something about Happy Father's Day and that I would come back in December to visit.

The whole thing left me feeling a little odd. Seeing your dad cry is the worst. Please, don't do that again.