My brother always jokes that I got all of my dad's genes, and he got all of my mom's. I personally think I have a good share of those mom genes, but it's true that I'm a lot like my dad in almost every way possible. Except that I don't like football or ice cream. Oh, and I'm a girl.
We like the same books, music, movies and food (he's the only one in my family who will try my vegetarian concoctions) and we both enjoy discussing the big things like philosophy, global politics, science and history. We both come up with insane business ideas that make everyone else in the family roll their eyes. Perhaps the most obvious way we're similar is in how we interact with other people. We're both painfully shy and socially awkward, and usually leave public conversation up to my mom & brother. At my art show a few weeks ago, my mom had to stay at home so it was just me, my dad and my brother. When my dad & I had to talk to the art show organizers, Kyle stayed back a few feet just to watch us flounder.
My dad also owns his own online business, so it's wonderful being able to commiserate with him about the downsides of customer service and lulls in orders. Since neither of us have any employees or coworkers, I think it's incredibly beneficial to our health (and sanity) that we have each other to complain to when things are rocky with work. We're both having huge dry spells with orders right now, and I know having my dad there to talk to about it helps me in a way that nothing else can.
One of my favorite parts of the day is when we go for a walk late at night. My dad works a late shift at his part time job and doesn't home until around 11pm each night. When he gets home, we go for a short stroll around the neighborhood. It's dark and quiet, and we get to talk about our day, what's going on in the world or he'll come up with insanely hard to answer questions like "who do you think was the most important person in all of civilization?" that keep me thinking for days.
I had a hard time with that particular question, but if it had been changed from "in all of civilization" to "in your life" the answer would have been incredibly simple.
