April 2015
I am taking a class that my daddy teaches on Natural Landscaping. Everything I'm interested in lead me back home. Whenever I ventured to where I wanted to go, I ended up back where I started: home! Whatever I learned and whatever I am interested in, at least as a career, I learned after the fact that my parents have been doing this the whole time!!
I am in this class because I found out that my dad hates lawns too! I, through my own thinking, figured out that a yard (or any land for that matter) should be productive, not consumptive. A lawn requires so much of the land owner's energy, resources, and time to maintain. In contrast, one could have a garden or landscape to produce food, beauty, or habitat. (Can you tell I'm into horticulture?)
My dad actually teaches a class all about how to reduce the size of your lawn. He suggested that I take it, and I agreed without hesitation.
It seems strange and backwards to disappear into school everyday of my childhood to learn a bunch of irrelevant things when I don't even know what my parents do during the day. I don't know what's going on in my parents' lives, but I know the quadratic formula. I don't know my parents' passions and beliefs and how they want to better the world through their service to the community in their jobs, but I know all about the Oregon Trail. *Frustration with the American education system and the way children are brought up now*
I knew their jobs had something to do with nature, but that was about it. My mom is obsessed with birds and I've always found that annoying.
The apple does not fall far from the tree.
My dad told me a story about what life was like when I was very young. He and Mom were in Michigan in graduate school. Once both had finished their Master's degrees, my dad wanted to continue his education because he wanted to be a professor. I never thought about this before, but my dad LOVES college. He was raised on a dairy farm with four older brothers and a younger half-sister, and none of them went to college. My dad was the first person to go to college in his family. And go to college he did! He almost completed his PhD and was going to teach college! But... then he looked around at all of this professors, and none of them had families or hobbies. They didn't have time for themselves or others. They didn't even have time for their students! All they ever did was research. My dad, with a two-year-old (me) and an infant (my sister), decided he didn't want that lifestyle. So he dropped out of school and he and my mom moved back to Washington. They love their life now, where they live in a beautiful place (my mom hated Michigan) with jobs in their field they are passionate about, and that also allow them to have a life outside of it - my dad can do the things he loves, like garden, cook and play basketball; and he also has time to be present in my and my siblings' lives.
Why didn't he ever tell me that story before?! I feel like I would have been more grateful for my life had I known that. I never realized it but I have a relatively awesome life. What if my dad had chosen that path? My life would be a whole lot different. I'm telling you, I've been asleep my whole life and am just now waking up.
My parents were around for my childhood. They were very involved in my life. They came to my dance recitals, band concerts, royalty parades, etc. to support me and be a part of my life. They know me and my life, but I don't know theirs. I don't know what life was like before I was born; I don't even know what their life is like now!