Ties my father-in-law gave me

Finding Waldo
London, ON
November 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

For a whole lot of reasons, mostly revolving around no one’s need to see any more of my asymmetric nose than they absolutely must, I don’t take or share many photos of myself, particularly if they’re selfies.

But I’ll make an exception this time.

I took this a few minutes before a live national television interview last evening. I decided to wear one of my favourite ties. It’s my Where’s Waldo tie, and I’ve had it for decades.

Like most of the ties in my collection, it was gifted to me by my late father-in-law. Often, when we’d get together for Shabbat dinner on Friday night, at one point he’d shove a crinkled paper bag into my hand. “Here you go,” he’d gruffly say as I took out silk lovelies that you just can’t buy anymore.

He got them from his “Tie Guy”, one of his group of cronies he’d regularly meet for lunch. Over the years, it became our little thing, and I accumulated a spectacularly meaningful collection of ties along the way.

This one’s a little busy for TV, but I consciously pulled it up before this particular hit. See, my FIL would have turned 90 yesterday, and I felt like I needed to mark the day in some tangible way. I already think of him every time I put on one of his ties, but this wasn’t just any tie, and this wasn’t just any day. A little fun was called for.

In the end, the interview - a chat with the CBC’s Sarah Galashan about OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman being fired then rehired 5 days later - went exceptionally well, and I’ve got to think it was because of the tie.

My father-in-law would have found it amusing, and the fact that I couldn’t call him afterward reminded me of just how much I miss him over 4 years after we lost him.

Thanks again, Dad, for always making sure I had the best ties. As much as I love wearing them, I cherish the stories around how you gifted them to me infinitely more.

#ldnont #family #everything

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