It's interesting how parents lead double lives--one at home and one in the outside world. I mentioned this to someone I worked with whose father had died. We had just discovered that his father had been my guidance counselor in high school. We compared notes. It confirmed the idea of multiple facets of our parents that we don't see and appreciate.
Growing up, Daddy was a source of much consternation. There were many times when he would decide that we were watching too much television (especially on Saturdays). The television would become inoperable due to the lack of an essential tube. My brothers and I were forced to go outside for our entertainment--baseball, hiking down the tracks, bike riding. Looking back, Daddy was probably right. These days, I wish it was as simple as taking a tube out of a television, or computer, or video game.
My father also frustrated and embarrassed us when we went out. Accents fascinated him. He would talk to anyone and everyone just to find out if his guess about where they were from was correct. (Daddy was rather accurate with his surmises.) The accent would lead to further conversation which meant that everyone else was in the car, waiting, while he chatted, oblivious to our discontent.
