As a countdown to my 30th birthday on March 18, I’ve committed to offering 30 people, things and experiences I want to celebrate from the last 30 years. Grab a piece of cake and enjoy reading!

It will likely come as no surprise (after yesterday’s ode to my mother) that today I celebrate my father and his role in my life for the last 29 years and 336 days!

There’s the sense of humor. A command of language. Intellectual curiosity. A love of all things woodsy (including daddy long leg spiders!). A willingness to wear tie-dye.

(In 1997, prior to my Junior prom)

Today, however, when I look at who I’ve become I recognize that my dad has given me a particularly tremendous gift in the realm of story that has shaped my very being. He infused my childhood with story – from creating winding bedtime tales until I drifted off to sleep in a land of adventure, to exposing me to Shakespeare and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

But there’s another kind of story that has become dear to me that I’ve gotten to explore with my dad – the personal story. His kitchen table will always feel like home to me because it is there that I learned the art of crafting a personal tale. And the art of challenging it. Be it the story of the amazing day, the story of girl-meets-boy, the story of the crappy job…

Thanks, dad, for sharing with me your love of a good story, for that has powerfully transformed my life over and over and over.

Tags: celebration, change, story

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 8:31 am and is filed under celebration, change, story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.