journal features

dad's in town

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Toronto, 2013.09.06

My father and step-mother are in town. They came for a visit, struggling through the maze of construction that turned a five kilometer trip into a lengthy journey. My dad presented me with some mementos from the family, including a watch that his father gave him in 1956, the year they both came to Canada. I'm going to have a new strap put on it and shall wear it. To my recollection, it's the first watch I've ever had that I'll have to wind.

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force