The sun warmed our shoulders as the chairlift brought us to the top. I put my arm around Jen and snuggled her closer. “In your next life, I hope you pick a good dad.”
Jen laughed and said, “Oh! I will.”
“Tell me about him. What’ll he be like?”
Swinging her skis she said, “Well, he’ll listen to me. And he’ll be interested in me.”
“Oh, that’s good. That would be nice. What else?”
“He’d read a lot, but also be interested in working on projects with me. And he’d be funny, but not embarrassing funny. He’d put up with a mess and not yell.”
Our skis were swinging together as we continued to climb.
“So mom, tell me who you’d pick to be your dad next time.”
“Oh, like you, I guess. He’d listen and be interested in me. He’d read and be funny. I’d like him to be kind and compassionate. He’d appreciate craft projects and art and still hunt and fish. He’d be nice to kids and old people and animals.”
Jenny looked at me and said, “Oh yeah! He’d have to be nice to animals. What else?”
“Well, he’d understand that family is more important than work and that relationships come first.”
I looked at Jen, “Would you care what your dad looked like?”
“Nah, I don’t think it matters, do you?”
“No, it doesn’t, but I don’t want him to be too clean. Know what I mean?”
Jen flinched, “Oh ick. I know what you mean. Yeah, not too clean.”
As we approached the top of the lift, we scooted forward to the edge of the chair to get ready to ski off. I laughed, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Wait. I’m not sure if I’m describing a dad or a partner.”
We skied down the off-ramp and Jen yelled, “They are a lot the same!”
