Let's Talk About My Dad

My dear readers, my father (known affectionately as Papa Ger) is a great man. He is fun, loving, smart, generous, and bizarre. Let me tell you a little bit about him.

1. Papa Ger is (along with Mama Jack) probably the most supportive person alive. The two of them never blinked an eye when both my sister and I decided we wanted to go into the performing arts. Instead, they were there at every single show, concert, play reading, whathaveyou, beaming with pride. Lately I think I've made this a little harder on my dad as most of my performance work involves nudity and talking about vaginas, but he still is there, even if he does blush a little.

Seen here at my sister's graduate school recital, very proud.

2. My dad taught my sister and I the great importance of teamwork and, when we all discovered what disgustingly poor athletes the two of us are, the joy of watching sports on tv. When I moved home for a year after college he taught me how to love football. He and my sister used to stay up late on Friday nights watching boxing. There is nothing that says Sunday In The Jerz With The Fam quite like drinking a couple of beers with my parents and watching golf. Seriously.

We think it's very funny to pose like boxing champs.

3. My dad wears the same bowtie every Christmas Eve. It's actually a miracle that it hasn't fallen apart, since it's just some felt and a clip. It's just not Christmas without it!

Every. Year.

4. Papa Ger willingly dresses up in ridiculous outfits and comes to theme parties at my house. Yes, I invite my parents and my aunts and uncles to my house parties. They are fun! I had a Sexy Cat party for Halloween and my dad insisted he didn't need a costume because he already fulfilled the requirements.

Seen here with my cousin, cousin's boyf, and my uncle - Sexy Cats all.

5. So my dad mumbles. A lot. He's deaf in one ear, his handwriting is illegible, and sometimes it's difficult to tell what he's saying. But he's the guy you want to hang out with at a party because he's got the best stories and he likes to hold court.

Not quite sure what this was all about.

6. The greatest compliment you can receive from the man is a nickname. That means he likes you and wants you to hang around. Also, if he makes fun of you, he loves you. That's sort of a thing with my family. Observe:

original, sisters and a cousin

aaaand 8 years later, love from our parents

7. He loves to laugh, he loves his family, and he loves a party.

Perhaps not the best photo ever taken of these two, but I love it. Sorry guys.

THIS is what most people think of when they think of Papa Ger.

8. You may not know this, but my dad is amazing at photobombing.

My mom and my cousin....and my dad doing an impression of Bigfoot.

9. Here's the thing: I truly love my family. They are bizarre and fun. My dad and I can go from talking about what he's teaching his students this week to how bad the Phils suck right now to the state of the garden to whether or not I am justified in my hatred of T.S. Eliot in the span of 10 minutes. (Spoiler alert: We have agreed to disagree on that last topic.) And it's always fun.

A recent wine tasting trip.

The day we discovered Photobooth.

10. Pretty much for my entire life, he has said to me “You know you’re special?” It’s really a nice thing for a parent to say. But nothing could be more special than this photo.

Happy Fathead's Day, buddy. I love you!