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| Matching flip flops the summer before I start at Georgia Tech. |
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| Graduating from Georgia Tech where I followed in my dad's footsteps and studied Mechanical Engineering. |
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| Our "matching" cars. His first Miata on the right (which I bought from him during college) and his current Miata. |
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| My braids and me in my little green bug. I loved that car! |
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| All I can think now is, "Oh dear!" 😂😂😂 |
Another thing I remember vividly is an offer for my mom and I to get a complimentary sample massage one day while we were on the beach. It was nice, and my mom decided to book a massage for the next day. She offered for me to get one, too, or a different activity at the spa. They offered hair braiding which was something I had always wanted done.
So the next day, I spent quite a bit of time getting my hair braided all over complete with beads. I loved it! It was so different from anything I had ever done. I couldn't wait to get home to have a couple of days at school with it before I'd finally take it out.
There was just one major problem: I had a soccer game the weekend between end of vacation and school. I thought I was prepared for soccer. I had played against other girls with braids. I couldn't tie back my hair because of how the braids laid, so I had a knit cap that wouldn't be pleasant in the heat, but it would keep the braids out of my face and controlled. Then there was a ref on his high horse claiming that he had allowed it before and a braid/bead combo had scratched a girls' eye. This meant that at the last minute, I was on the sidelines with most of the team moms around me helping to get the beads out as quickly as possible. I was probably crying in frustration. The beads were removed, and the rest of the braids were left as intact as possible. I put on the cap and was allowed to hit the field. Apparently, this ref had no problem with the foil on the end of each braid. It doesn't make any sense even looking back now.
One of the moms told my dad that we should get some gel to help with putting the beads back on later. Just a little gel on the ends would really help to "thread the needle." And that's just what we did. After the game, my dad bought probably the largest and most economical bottle of hair gel. I still have it unless I tossed it when we moved to Oman. We sat down in the living room, turned on a movie, and he fixed my hair.
My dad fixed my hair.
Why? Because my mom and my sister had headed off to a family function that weekend. There was a period of time while I was growing up that I was the imaginary daughter because it was always my mom and my sister going to family things. I wonder if they also worried about my parent's relationship since my dad was probably also rarely there. Hmmm...
Anyways, just one of many favorite stories of my dad. There are many. This story doesn't talk about playing soccer with him the summer before college, his trips to visit me in college, the time he took me to The Abbey because no guy I dated in college would be able to afford that restaurant, my hilarious story from the DFW airport that only he thought was just as funny as I did, deep sea fishing, family vacation stories, movies, Waffle House, or date nights with just him and my sister. I love you, Dad!
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| My dad, my sister, and me playing soccer together. |