For those of you who don't know my Dad or anything about my family, something like this is almost unheard of. This household has always been a totalitarian house, we were expected to do what we were told, when we were told, without question. So for me to go to lunch with Dad and start pointing out things that I didn't necessarily agree with or that I thought needed to be addressed was pretty tough for me. However, it went much better than I had ever hoped. Dad was a pretty decent listener, he actually listened to what I had to say in it's entirety before he started talking, and although he didn't agree with everything I said he didn't make it into something bad. We talked for a very long time about some of the big issues facing our family right now, plans to deal with those issues, and what he thought the future (at least the near future) holds for our family. It was an altogether fruitful venture!
Of course, after pointing out all these things I'd found that needed talking about I asked Dad what he had for me. What had he seen in me the past few weeks or even just from talking with me while I was at the Academy that concerned him or that he thought was an area I needed to look at in my life. After all, one-sided constructive feedback is only good for one of the sides. So we talked a little about a couple things and I'm glad we did that also - it gives me something to look at in the self-reflection mirror that I'll have time for as I fly back tomorrow!
This leave has been great and I'm really happy that it wrapped up the way it did. Sitting down with Dad and having a nice, long, open and honest talk turned out to be quite rewarding. I only hope it was as good an experience for him as it was for me!
-Storm
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