Traits of My Mother Which I Most Admire
Mary Wilson Burnette Giles
Intelligence
I don’t think she knows her I.Q score. If the number were uttered aloud, a tsunami would rise.
Audacity
Interjections of non-social norm sentences or actions into an interaction can be funny. They can provoke cognitive dissonance which invites enlightenment. It walks the talk of “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Iconoclasm
Even if “it’s always been done that way,” if a ritual or institution cannot bear the scrutiny of measurement on an integrity scale, my mother states openly and firmly, “The emperor wears no clothes.”
Generosity
Simply put, my mother senses need and gives unstintingly of her resources.
Traits of My Father Which I Most Admire
Robert Hayes Giles, Junior
Creativity
His ability to view situations and problems from heretofore unimaginable angles – as if he used a Dr. Seuss Whoville periscope – and to generate scrolling lists of possibilities is legendary.
Acuteness
Whether it’s noticing how cream stirs into coffee, laughing in celebration at the way a little kid wears a hat, or wincing at what the buzz of power lines might mean, my father thinks, feels, and senses life keenly.
Passion
Although the projects evolve, the theme is the same: a life deeply lived.
Tenacity
Even after ten years of retirement, even on weekends, alarm set for 6:10 AM. ‘Nough said.
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