While growing up I would overhear my friends and cousins ask the age old question to their dad. " Am I pretty?" Each dad would of course swear that his daughter was the prettiest thing that walked the earth.
My dad was mum on these compliments.
When I finally noticed him beaming at me one day I got up the nerve to ask, "Dad, am I pretty?"
"You are as pretty as a mule with a rubber tail!" was his reply. I smiled back and decided not to ponder that answer too long. It became our little joke.
To this day I am not sure what he meant. I believe his message was that looks don't matter, at least that is how I took it. I do know that he was extremely proud of me. I do know that in times of trouble he was always there, not necessarily to solve problems for me, but to listen and to reassure me that I would work it out, or that he would be with me through the consequences if I made the wrong decision.
So now, I am not big on the compliments when it comes to looks. I have learned there will always be a younger, prettier, smarter woman in the room. BUT I am as pretty as a mule with a rubber tail and no one can take that confidence away.
Reflections
California Mission
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