My father asked for my opinion and actually waited for it

Dear Delyara, He called about something practical, then surprised me by saying, “What do you think?” Not rhetorically. Not politely. Properly. I answered and he listened all the way through without stepping over the top of me or turning it into a lecture halfway. It was such an ordinary thing and it moved me more than I expected. There are some family shifts so small they could be missed by anyone else in the room. To the person who has lived without them for years, they land like weather changing. I got off the phone feeling bigger, not smaller. That is worth writing down.