you know, dad, there was a time when we were not only separated by the generation gap but completely polarized by it. you stood on one side of the great divide and i on the other, father and daughter split apart by age and experience, opinions, hairstyles, cosmetics, clothing, curfews, music, and boys.
the father-daughter duel of ’54 shifted into high gear when you taught me to drive the old dodge and i decided i would drive the ‘54 chevy whether you liked it or not. the police officer who escorted me home after you reported the chevy stolen late one evening was too young to understand father-daughter politics and too old to have much tolerance for a snotty 16 year old. you were so decent about it, dad, and i think that was probably what made it the worst night of my life.
our relationship improved immensely when i married a man you liked, and things really turned around when we begin making babies right and left. we didn’t have a television set, you know, a