Originally Posted by
VixenDogFox
Well...
My dad has always been a pleasure seeker. He loves to have a good time, and tends to get addicted to his habits easily, whether it's golf, gambling, drinking, basketball, surfing or what have you. At the moment, he plays in a basketball league where the oldest person besides him is about 42 (my dad is a few days short of 59) so he's very athletic and always has been. My mom says he's a big kid at heart.
He is really pretty shy and keeps to himself, and yet when in a group situation when he has to, he has a twinkly, clever charm that wins everyone over. He'll tell interesting stories about his life, and does with great timing. He is very fond of nicknames and makes them up for people easily and hilariously. He always has some friends he does activities with, but very few people he is really close to, and even fewer he spends quality time with.
He doesn't worry too much about growing old, he just tries to live his life to the fullest, enjoy it, and take care of his family. Family is everything to him. He has the biggest, most generous heart, and would give his last dollar to one of his kids if we needed his help. He would also violently avenge anything terrible that might happen to us.
He has a quite, personal spirituality and it seems to go along with his youthful persona for some reason -- there is an innocence there barely detectable.
As a child, his policy was to nod in agreement with his parents but then go and do whatever he wanted to do (a contrast to that is me the ESE, who would battle with my mom over things that really probably didn't need to be fought over -- I could have nodded and then done my own thing...).
My dad isn't a big criticizer, but if you're cooking or making a bed or doing some odd task, and he happened to come in, he won't hesitate to mention if there's some problem with what you're doing.
In business, he's not very good with organization, or with expansion. He's an expert at what he does (he used to have an email address with "expert" in the name!) but he doesn't like giving up the reigns to anyone so his business makes money but never gets bigger. But when he works, he puts on his "business hat" as my mom calls it. He gets very firm and dry and strict in his manner and language, sharp and quick. He is not afraid to reprimand his subcontractors but at the same time I have never seen him do so in an uncalled for manner. He is extraordinarily fair, and that is true about the way he is with everyone.
He's quiet. He doesn't go on and on for no reason and he doesn't talk for nothing. He doesn't like the phone and will let you know; if you're talking to him longer than a few moments and you veer from a practical topic to asking what he's up to or how he's doing, he will only tolerate that for so long. He'll give away that he's bored with talking on the phone by answering you with some kind of generic "That's great!" though you have a feeling he may not have been listening.
My dad was our protector but also a playmate. He loved to have fun with us and build things with us, but he was a stern disciplinarian. Though now he says, "If I had kids nowadays I would never spank them," when we were kids he did spank us. My mom punished us day-to-day, but my dad punished us for big things. He was raised by parents from Arkansas where the switch was the rule. Also, my mom's son (probably around 17 at the time of this story) from her first marriage was incredibly intense and difficult and used to scream obscenities at her, and once he went too far and my dad and him had a fist fight in the yard. My dad was willing to force us into being good. After we were reprimanded or spanked or whatever, he'd say, "Are you ready to be a good boy/girl?" and we couldn't just say "yes," we had to say, "Yes Sir, Daddy." It had to be some kind of control thing.
Is that enough info?