My father is a character
He’s always hated conforming to someone else’s rules – he wants to be free to make his own rules
When he got his job as a physicist in the early sixties they told him he had to wear a necktie to work.
He hates neckties….with a passion…and he told his bosses that
They looked him in the eye and told him he had to wear something around his neck
So he tied a bandana around his neck and went to work
And a unique character was born
For the next thirty-odd years that he worked there he was the bandana guy
If someone new was around they were told, “Oh, you don’t know Ted? He’s the bandana guy,” and they instantly knew who he was
Unique, funny, stands out, a little crazy – yep, that’s my dad
And he spent his off time surrounded by girls – his beautiful wife and his four daughters, of which I am lucky to be one
We weren’t rich by any stretch of the imagination but we were comfortable, we were accepted, we were free to be whoever we wanted to be and we were loved
We all knew that no matter who we became in life we would be loved
We all knew that we were unique in our own ways and we would be accepted
We were free to make our own choices, our own way, free to follow our hearts, free to follow our dreams and we knew that no matter where our unique paths took us, Dad would be there cheering us on
We were encouraged to be unique, to be whatever we wanted to be
Was he perfect?
Not a chance
He would hate if I said that he was – perfect means that there’s no room for improvement, no reason to keep trying
His patience was lacking but over the years we learned that was because he knew we could do so much better, he knew we could be so much more – so we always tried harder
He gave his love of nature to all of us
He gave us his love of music
He gave us his love of photography
For me, he gave me his love of writing
And more than anything he gave us his love of human beings – no matter what color they are, what sexuality they are. Whoever he met, if they were kind and good he’d treat them like the good friend he knew they would be.
That’s what resonates the most with me
Love one another, accept one another
It’s how my sister’s and I were raised
It’s how we raised our children
It’s how our children are raising their children
And it was taught to us by our hero…..who always wears a bandana
