Crafty Rewards

A particular memory I have, I believe it's from when I was in junior high school, is an evening when Mom ran a number of errands while Dad remained at the house. I may have been the only other one there at the time.

I specifically remember that I didn't have anything in particular I needed to do & I found myself basically "spotting" Dad as he roamed about taking care of the little things he planned to accomplish in the hours while Mom drove about accomplishing her own to-do list.

Wandering about & working alongside Dad was unique unto itself. He's always had a way of teaching & showing without really doing so, a special, gentle quality where it became just as easy to end up taking care of something, & being of assistance, without necessarily doing this at all. And it wasn't a fake out; it wasn't intentional. Rather, it was completely natural, like a soft, warm hug without any physical embrace.

I dilly-dallied about. Truly, I haven't a clue what all those little moments were about, yet I know I did quite a bit; I was of great help. I know this because when Mom returned hours later Dad explained that I'd been with him, working on his things, & that we'd accomplished a lot; I'd been of great help.

The first thing Mom said in reply was, "Good. I'm glad then that I brought this back with me." She'd been to a craft store & happened to pick up one of these barrettes. I remember being extremely grateful. These trinkets & similar supplies didn't come by all that often; I'd basically been surprised. Also in that moment I realized I knew I'd just spent plenty of time meandering about with Dad, yet I'd just learned of this great help I'd been & I'd absolutely no idea what it was that I did exactly to provide said assistance.

It's possible that in just being me I'd done quite plenty; it's possible that I did do quite a bit without realizing it because of what it was I was doing (& because I was with Dad). Nevertheless I now had a hair clip to fashion & design for wearing.