. . . and do something with your life.
Tough words to hear from your Dad. I’m still not sure what he meant by it. This was the nugget of advice he gave me while we said goodbye last Sunday. Lath and I went home to celebrate my folks anniversary and Father’s Day with them this weekend. Great weekend. Awesome, in fact, . . . comment and all.
I know he didn’t mean to be hurtful. It sounded like he really felt I needed to hear it. I think he even feels it was gentle motivation for me to get on with things, have children maybe. What baffles me is the perception that what I’m doing is any different than, say, Annika Sorenstam or Serena Williams. Heck . . . even Tiger Woods. Granted, those folks get paid way more than a track cyclist. But in theory, it’s the same thing. Why can’t a woman—this woman—be an athlete?
I think it’s more indicative or illustrative of the enormous, humongous canyon between his generation (see below) and mine.
At least I’d like to think it is.
I still get crap from my parents just because I “work at a bike shop”. For some reason, it’s less acceptable to be the best (or one of the best) at what you do than to sit behind a cubicle all day working for some corporation. Apparently being mediocre and anonymous but making a lot of money is what we should be doing if we want to “do something with our lives”.
Keep it up, Liz! We’re proud of you!
You just keep doing your thing. He probably wants you to have kids or something. You ARE an athlete, and an awesome one at that.