#it's odd seeing the random flashes of vulnerability in him because i don't know how aware he even is when it happens

[t00thpasteface]

one thing i've noticed about my dad is that if i spend at least two full days in a row with him, whether it's for hunting trips or visiting family out of town or whatever, he will volunteer a story about one (1) traumatic event he never told anyone else before, and then we'll have a conversation like the one we had before stopping to pick prickly pears the other day, where he shared a deeply personal anecdote from his childhood and then followed it up with "i dunno why i never told my parents about that" and i said "dad, that's probably because you felt humiliated and ashamed... you probably just wanted to forget it ever happened :(" and he said "oh huh. maybe." and then we go right back to singing along to rush