One last goodbye
London, ON, July 2009
About this photo: Thematic Photographic. Theme. Laundry. Craziness. All week. Here.Just before the delivery people put our old - and decidedly non-functional - washer and dryer on the truck for the return trip to appliance oblivion, I got it into my head that we should mark the occasion in some small way. I'm still not quite sure why, but I figured it was the least we could do to remember a couple of appliances that had kept our clothes clean and dry for our children's entire lives.
Yup, I get sentimental over major appliances.
So I asked our daughter if she wanted to play along. Against her better judgment, she said yes. She's like that: willing to give something a shot if she thinks it'll make folks around her happy. Empathetic to the core, she's already got a remarkable sense of who she is at the tender age of 11.
I was privileged to hang out with her for a good chunk of the day today. I got called in to do an interview with CTV News Channel*. Since she had a playdate at a friend's house just after the scheduled interview time, she tagged along. She patiently hung out with me in the studio while I got all mic-ed and earpieced up, then bantered with me and the producer for the 20 minutes or so it took till we went live. Then she stayed in the studio and watched me speak, seemingly one-way, into a silent camera to an anchor 200 km away.
It was one of those moments that, as a parent, I wish I could bottle up and preserve in some way. She's such a joy to be around that it saddens me to think she won't always be 11, with a schedule flexible enough to tag along with dad on a grand weekend adventure.
All the more reason for me to cherish the times that she can.
Your turn: Little moments you'll remember forever. Please discuss.
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* I spoke with Jacqueline Milczarek about a lawsuit that could potentially force the popular VoIP service, Skype, to go silent. If you can stand to see me yammer on television, the video is here. (And, no, despite what the on-screen graphics may suggest, I haven't magically started spelling my family name with an 'i'. It still "Levy" as far as I can tell.)
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7 comments:
What a beautiful daughter and keeping up with the theme this week is excellent. I love that story. You know when my niece and/or nephew just happen to pop over on a surprise visit the first thing I hear is Hi Uncle Thom, Love you and then a kiss. It's totally bottled up inside me :) Aloha
What a great picture - and your daughter is lovely. I see you and your wife in her face.
I know I've been incredibly absent in your comment feed, but I actually posted a Thematic Photographic entry here. Try not to faint.
I have a fondness for major appliances as well, so I can understand you there. I also have love/hate relationships with all of fthe vacuums in my life, but that's another story for another day.
I think it's wonderful that you realize how important all the little things are in life, how you can bottle sweet moments in time and capture them forever.
I have moments I remember and many of them involve my sons when they were small. I've just remembered some of them because of this post, so am sitting here with quite the smile on my face this Sunday morning. Thanks for that.
Great interview, btw.
Yes she won't be 11 forever. And how quickly she will grow up will literally astound you. So you are right to cherish all these moments. We're currently on the last day of a vacation to PEI with a short stay here in Quebec City. Our baby who is 23 years old is with us. It's brought a lot of memories of previous vacations. Hayley our baby says the only thing that would have made this vacation totally perfect was if her brother and his fiance could of joined us. And there has been moments where she has felt she has reverted to her child hood. It's awoken old memories and we've been reliving them with joy.
Your daughter is looking quite grown up!
Now where did I put the photos I snapped of the VAX mainframe we got rid of back in 1980-something at work. I remember the relief at the things finally getting gone (it was a pain to usher them out - red tape all the way), and I get a smile everytime I remember the big, washer-and-dryer-sized boxes occupying a tiny corner of a massive moving van...
Not nearly so poignant (and completely un-laundry-related), but the moment that comes to mind happened on the Great College Road Trip of 2005 -- not more than a few hours into the journey in fact. My son and I were headed to Indiana University as our first stop. No GPS at that time, (though we really could have used it later in the trip) but we were armed with maps and directions of all sorts from AAA. About 40 miles east of Knoxville, TN the following conversation took place between me and my soon-to-be college bound son:
College Bound Son (with a completely serious, straight face): "Dude. I don't think we're supposed to be in Tennessee."
Me (as calmly as possible): "What do you mean 'I don't think we're supposed to be in Tennessee?'"
CBS: "Did you see a sign for I-77 anywhere?"
Me (not quite as calmly): "Yes, back in Winston Salem. That was three hours ago!"
CBS: "We were supposed to turn there."
A quick stop at the next exit and a check of the map revealed that if we pressed on to Knoxville, we could simply turn north on I-75 and it would take us straight into Bloomington. Which, as it turned out, was a better way to go after all. AAA listed the drive time for the route they'd given us at 12 hours. We made it door to door -- pit stop included -- in eleven hours total time. Back in the car with the crisis resolved, the conversation continued.
Me: We must never speak of this.
CBS: Right!
Of course neither of us could keep a story this entertaining to ourselves, and we knew it even as we made that vow. And to this day any time the subject of navigation comes up one of us will adopt a completely deadpan expression and say, "Dude. I don't think we're supposed to be in Tennessee."
And none of this has a thing to do with my TP entry du jour:
Thematic Photographic 60: "Laundry" v.4.0 - "Frontal Lode"
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