memories – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

To My Dad on Father’s Day

The cradle my dad built us.

To My Dad:

My parents separated when I was two years old. My dad got me every other weekend and for Tuesday night dinners. We still get together for Tuesday night dinner. And, according to my mom, he never missed a weekend. My dad always seemed to want time with me and want me to be a part of his life and his interests.

He took me to baseball games and taught me to drop a ball down into the dugout with a soda bottle so that I could collect signatures. He took me sailing. He thinks I hated it because as a child I was scared of everything—the dark, gremlins, the alligator under my bed, leaving my mother, and sailing—but my memories from the boat involve loving being with my dad. Note: I loved it except for the toilet or when the boat was heeling over. That part I really didn’t like. Okay, I actually hated the sailing part. He’s right there. I just liked the time with him. But I think now I’d really enjoy it. My dad thinks I didn’t like sailing because I […]

To My Mother for Mother’s Day

To my mother:

My mom is the best mom, at least for me. To keep you reading, she’s not perfect. If she were, I might not like her as much. I’d certainly be less impressed. While I am about to gush about her for a moment, she has her flaws. She is human. I don’t say that to knock her, but it’s even more impressive to me how much I’ve grown to admire her as a parent knowing, and even liking, her imperfections, for the most part. Every moment of my childhood wasn’t perfect, although luckily, for me, the good certainly outweighed the bad. But what my mom gave me was a person in this world who seemed to enjoy me endlessly. For me, that has been truly vital.

Growing up she made life fun—dancing to show tunes in the living room, swimming in the pond at Misquamicut Beach, nightly massages as she listened to every detail of my day which included obnoxiously, exhaustive, extremely comprehensive information. If I ate my sandwich top down instead of bottom up, she heard about it. If I went to the bathroom five times or three, she […]