6.06.2006

papa don't preach

Today is our family photographer's birthday. War often broke out during family photo sessions, like the time my brother pushed me over while swearing about something. I believe this was the same weekend his now wife was meeting us for the first time. It's a wonder she ever came back. Often one sibling or another would storm out, only to have to come back minutes later to paste on the fake smile. Even with this knowledge, our regular photographer often chose to test out new equipment on us. Several hours would be spent waiting for it to be figured out, only to get prints back that were less than stellar. I remember the blue backdrop he bought, the light reflector thing, new flashes, but all in all, my dad is a pretty good photographer. Now family photos only happen at weddings, so we don't have to worry about that for a long while. Family fighting is kept more to the little ones and the main goal now is just to have everyone in a shot with fewer than two people closing their eyes and only one crying kid.

Back to my dad... he has several roles in our family. He's the captain (but only when he's sailing), the photographer, the paper editor (when I was in school), the softy grandpa and the tease (only because I'm such an easy target). This got me thinking about the roles each of us play in our family. Some have more clearly defined roles, such as the peacemaker or agitator but I've noticed roles have changed in my family as we've all gotten older. All of my siblings also have the role of mother or father, along with daughter/son, wife/husband, brother/sister, aunt/uncle. It's got to be rather confusing! What is interesting is to see how roles change with the person. My dad was always a sweet softie with my mom but never mushy with us (although it does creep in with his grandkids). I also relate differently with each of my siblings. Relationships are interesting things.

I think I really like Sailor Dad, as the sea air makes all of us cheery and it's inspiring to see how much he's invested in this hobby. Side note: Sailor Dad wasn't so cheery during one trip when he had gout. I preferred to say he got "grouch." Editor dad was pretty handy too when I needed help with university applications and when introductory English papers had been badly procrastinated. Happy birthday dad, thanks for always giving me a hand.

By the way, I see my future favourite role as cool Auntie. I plan to hedge all the other Aunties out by spoiling my nieces and nephews rotten when I am a mega-rich therapist (but I think that's an oxymoron). What is your favourite role?

7 comments:

mskaz said...

Um, Parker looks very much like you in that picture. Wow. She is a one of us after all. I love seeing old pictures of my siblings and thinking it looks like one of my kids. Awesome. I always thought she looked like Mikey, but for her sake, I'll tell her she looks like you. It might be a bit too emotionally damaging for her to look at Uncle Mitey and think she might end up like that.

I suppose I'd be blacklisted if I didn't say my favourite role is that of a mother. So, uh that's what I'll say.

The family photos. Oy. Trying to get one picture without someone having their eyes closed is impossible. And yes, we did meet belmomma for the first time during a weekend family shoot. Her husband-to-be was the jerk in that episode, which was a nice change since I think I generally took that role.

Two of the favourite roles that dad has held from time to time were: self-appointed bouncer to unruly drunks at spectator events and unruly, non-drunk spectator at hockey games. Going out with him was always a bit of an adventure.

Happy birthday old man!

aisy said...

you were the lucky sib that got to boo dad when he shot the puck in intermission. remember how rude he always was? ha ha.

Anonymous said...

I handed in a book report once and my teacher told me it was the best that she had seen from a ninth grader. Then she asked if I wrote it, so I lied.

Anonymous said...

That picture reminds me of the event it was taken at. Remember how the waiters kept plying you all with those expensive kiddie drinks? You all thought it was wonderful and amazing because they were FREE. Dad's company was surprised by the higher than expected catering bill!

aisy said...

you both are to blame for bringing 5 kids to it!! ha ha. was that the one where we kept ordering shirley temples? i seem to think there must have been another thing like that because i do remember being somewhere with a lot of adults ordering fancy drinks but i think i must have been older.

Anonymous said...

ahhh yes the memorable photo shoot! I knew that if I stuck with 'belpoppa' there'd never be a dull moment at family gatherings!
Hmmmm, my favorite role...hazardous waste management specialist (poop patrol). It is very fulfilling.

Anonymous said...

My favourite role would be tuna roll, salmon roll, dynamite roll or on a really bad day, a jelly roll.