Bonding
Matthew McCargish
Ever since I was a little kid I have looked up to my dad. Since about the age of four my dad has been teaching me how to do small tasks that he said I would need later in life. These tasks ranged from doing plumbing to how to do simple car maintenance. Now granted at the age of four I had no idea what he was talking about but as I got older, I understood more and more. I would get older and learn more and start to work on harder and more complicated things.
I do not know why but I can tell the difference between chemicals that have to do with cleaning or lubricating a car, just by their smells. For me cleaning chemicals are like a stingy smell that can hurt my nose and sometimes smell like lemons, whereas lubricating chemicals are in a way sweet.
Young me could sit and watch my dad work for a small amount of time and then I would get distracted by something and then he would have to refocus me; this was a never-ending cycle. I was not able to really tell the difference between the different oils and adhesives, but I knew that there was a difference. I did not really care at all what anything did, but I specifically remember smelling WD-40 as a kid while working on my truck with my dad. I remember working on the truck right in front of my driveway and I remember him telling me its multiple uses. I remember smelling it and ever since I smelt it, something switches in my head every time. When I smell those strong smells, my head remembers the many late nights and long hours working with my dad.
I think that possibly for the rest of my life I will never be able to smell certain chemicals or really strong smells without thinking back. I hated working with my dad for a long time. It was not until around last year that I understood that him teaching us stuff like mechanics was not only for us to learn life skills, but it also was for me and my younger brother to get to know him better. It was his way of connecting with us. I do not really know why he chose to bond with us through that specifically, but it may have had to do with us not really having similar interests or not having anything to talk about. I sometimes miss the younger careless years of my life not only because of the feeling of being free, but because of the relationship that I had with my dad. My dad and I have grown closer and closer over the years. I not only gained a closer relationship with my dad that may have been rocky at times, but I also gained many life skills and things that I can bring up and relate with him on.
I will never forget the first time my Dad and I did a brake job on a car. We woke up at around 8 am and started to work at around 9. We brought all of our tools outside which took several loads. Then we took one tire off and unplugged some things behind the tire and then took off the brake pads to see which ones we needed to replace. While we had the tire off my Dad wanted to check the bearings on the car. Once he saw that the bearings were not lubricated enough, he went inside and got some Greece. Needless to say, we got Greece everywhere. This Greece was not normal Greece either, it was a special mechanic type of Greece that smelled awful. The Greece smelled like an old piece of rubber blended itself with really old glue. Well once we finished lubing up the car, we cleaned everything up, but we were stuck on trying to clean ourselves up. The lubricant would not come off, so my dad went and got some dish soap and turned on the garden hose and me and my brother thought that finishing that project was so great. But we never knew what our dad had just taught us. Me and my dad may be hours away from each other, but we still are close because of things that he taught me ever since I was a toddler.
I do not know why but I can tell the difference between chemicals that have to do with cleaning or lubricating a car, just by their smells. For me cleaning chemicals are like a stingy smell that can hurt my nose and sometimes smell like lemons, whereas lubricating chemicals are in a way sweet.
Young me could sit and watch my dad work for a small amount of time and then I would get distracted by something and then he would have to refocus me; this was a never-ending cycle. I was not able to really tell the difference between the different oils and adhesives, but I knew that there was a difference. I did not really care at all what anything did, but I specifically remember smelling WD-40 as a kid while working on my truck with my dad. I remember working on the truck right in front of my driveway and I remember him telling me its multiple uses. I remember smelling it and ever since I smelt it, something switches in my head every time. When I smell those strong smells, my head remembers the many late nights and long hours working with my dad.
I think that possibly for the rest of my life I will never be able to smell certain chemicals or really strong smells without thinking back. I hated working with my dad for a long time. It was not until around last year that I understood that him teaching us stuff like mechanics was not only for us to learn life skills, but it also was for me and my younger brother to get to know him better. It was his way of connecting with us. I do not really know why he chose to bond with us through that specifically, but it may have had to do with us not really having similar interests or not having anything to talk about. I sometimes miss the younger careless years of my life not only because of the feeling of being free, but because of the relationship that I had with my dad. My dad and I have grown closer and closer over the years. I not only gained a closer relationship with my dad that may have been rocky at times, but I also gained many life skills and things that I can bring up and relate with him on.
I will never forget the first time my Dad and I did a brake job on a car. We woke up at around 8 am and started to work at around 9. We brought all of our tools outside which took several loads. Then we took one tire off and unplugged some things behind the tire and then took off the brake pads to see which ones we needed to replace. While we had the tire off my Dad wanted to check the bearings on the car. Once he saw that the bearings were not lubricated enough, he went inside and got some Greece. Needless to say, we got Greece everywhere. This Greece was not normal Greece either, it was a special mechanic type of Greece that smelled awful. The Greece smelled like an old piece of rubber blended itself with really old glue. Well once we finished lubing up the car, we cleaned everything up, but we were stuck on trying to clean ourselves up. The lubricant would not come off, so my dad went and got some dish soap and turned on the garden hose and me and my brother thought that finishing that project was so great. But we never knew what our dad had just taught us. Me and my dad may be hours away from each other, but we still are close because of things that he taught me ever since I was a toddler.