Welcome to Episode Two of Just TypiKel Momday Motivations! Today I’m getting my ducks in a row.
Getting My Ducks In A Row
Folks have asked me what’s so special about those ten years and the short answer is: how much I changed. I went from knowing next to nothing about Asian antiques and caring about them even less, to being able to go tootling off on my own buying trips. I also became quite the financial whiz (after originally failing Math 12, it was miraculous to end up as our money-wise bookkeeper) and best of all, I happily met and married my remarkable husband.
I’ve also been asked why I insist on saying that I “survived” working with my mother. Well, it’s one thing to work with your mother and it’s quite another to work with one that’s blessed with several different and distinct personas. Oh, there are stories!
Toss in an eclectic group of customers and a few marriages, funerals and even murders and … it was quite a decade.
OK let’s get a peek at another chapter, shall we? Click those sparkly heels and be magically transported!
Oh No, He Didn’t
I like to say that I was the first long-term hire at the shop, however, that’s not true. My late father signed on as the deliveryman years before I came on the scene. Dad was rather shy and humble. For example, you had to pry out of him that he was a pediatrician and he’d never volunteer that he was the driving force behind the Canadian research into Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
He was also blessed with a wonderful sense of humor. My father’s first name was Geoff but he delighted in being known as “Fred” while on deliveries for the shop. He’d gleefully wear the overalls Francine had given him with the “Fred” stitched on the outside of one of the pockets and while there are many hilarious stories of his incognito deliveries, including being rudely treated by an unsuspecting medical colleague, it is the “party story” that I treasure the most.
Things unfolded when a customer asked my mother and me to dinner. Our husbands were also invited but as I didn’t even have a boyfriend at the time, just the three of us went.
It turned out that we weren’t the only guests.
There were at least 30 other people in the tiny, smoky third-floor walk-up and only one chair, a tall wooden stool which Francine immediately claimed for herself. Dad and I were left a choice of one of 15 mattresses strewn about the floor and I watched in wonder as my 60 year-old father slowly lowered himself to the ground and crawled on all fours onto the farthest one away from the swaying clump of sweaty dancers.
As Francine preened from her perch, I set off in search of food and drinks in the pocket-sized kitchen and unearthed two bottles of beer and a bowl of crackers and a handful of dried figs. Dinner. I wove my way back through the horde to my father, only to find that he wasn’t alone. A bare-chested and decidedly vacant-faced fellow had successfully wedged himself in between the wall and my dad and was cosily settling in for a chat. His highly pitched voice rocketed about the room.
“I’m high on life. And you? What’s your bag?”
Sweet Jesus.
The room fell silent, clearly anticipating an insightful answer from the sage gentleman with the magnificent silver mane. Knowing full well that Dad wouldn’t share the truth, I held my breath as he clasped his hands around the back of his head and slowly shut his eyes. Everyone leaned closer and my father began to speak …
… 34 years later, Dad’s classic nine-word response is still legendary.
To learn why, you’ll have to wait for the completion of my book with the current working title of “It’s Ok, She’s My Mother.”
Enough about me. I’m curious about you. How are your ducks? Do you have a decade that stands out as a life-changer? Better yet, what is the most extraordinary thing a parent or family member has ever uttered?
16 Responses
Oh Kel – I’m LOVING these teases. I’ll be first in line for your book, you can count on it. And in the meantime, I’m on the hunt for some sparkling shoes.
Deborah! It’s so lovely to hear from you and I have to say your sparkling shoes comment made me grin.
I’ve been working with my mom for the past 10 years since my dad died (he did contract communication work for her nonprofit), and it has changed our relationship quite dramatically, I must say. Part of it has been adjusting to being more of a caregiver lately than I anticipated (she is showing the same signs of early stage dementia that my grandmother did). Another part of it has been our ability to learn to see eye to eye on some things. She gives herself credit for some of the more conservative views I hold these days, and I give myself credit for pulling her a little more into the liberal stance I have. Before this, in my 20s and 30s any political argument we ever had always devolved into brawls.
How very interesting, Beth. Your experience is the reverse of mine in terms of timeline. I was so inexperienced when I began working with mine and I think that many of the “brawls” that Mom and I experienced then wouldn’t happen today. We’d be more tolerant. I know that her memory is colored, though. Today she is puzzled that I am writing about some of our conflicts. “But surely that didn’t happen, Kel”
These posts are so tantalizing, and really are making me even more excited about your book ! Such a wonderful insight into that part of your life !
Thank you, Jane, ever so much. I have to say this writing gig is conjuring up all sorts of long-forgotten memories.
What a cliff hanger, Kelly! I can’t wait for the book. Your father was quite a character, too, it seems. But of course he would be as part of your delightful clan.
I have to say that one of the best parts of this journey, Molly, has been the reliving of long-forgotten memories. It’s been quite a hoot remembering some of the stuff that Dad did, too, and yes, he truly was quite a character!
Oooo, excellent teaser! I have a cousin named Geoff. He doesn’t go by Fred, though.
Anxiously awaiting the book, Kel!
Yay! Geoff spelled the “proper” way! You don’t meet too many of them these days.
Love these snippets and I look forward to reading that book when it becomes available. I volunteer to review an early copy if you are looking for eyes. As a meme I recently saw stated something like….”I don’t have ducks or rows – I have squirrels and they’re at a rave.”
Love the image of “… squirrels and they’re at a rave.” So clever. Thank you for your kind offer, Bryce. I do appreciate it!
What in the world did your dad say? I want to know!!
My ducks are in a row, but they have a tendency to swim off while I’m not paying attention.
Oh, you’ll just have to wait! And please know that I grinned envisioning your ducks …
Oh my gosh I have some catching up to do!! I am DYING to know what your dad said! And this just can’t even be a true story- my gosh, mattresses?? And seriously, 30 PEOPLE and NO FOOD?
Oh Kelly, I cannot WAIT to read this book of yours. Hurry up and publish it!
PS: My ducks are drowning in all the swimming pools I’ve been at and the ones I’ll visit for the months ahead… Good GRIEF swim club AND school team is pulling me under the water with no coming up for air! (You get it.)
Hi, Chris. May I say it is lovely to see your comments here – I’m grinning ear to ear. Yes, that was a true story – mattresses, no food and 30 people. Quite something.
Ah yes, swim club. There is nothing like it. I made such wonderful friends over the years with parents of fellow swimmers. I guess it’s true that misery loves company! Ha!