Have you ever experienced a moment where you realized your parents used to be completely different people before they became "mom" and "dad"? I'm sure we've all been there at some point, but what I don't think is usual is to learn about your parents' past and find out that they were actually the coolest people alive ever...ever.
I've always known I've had cool parents, but this was always within the framework of them still being parents.
My dad's a musician and a painter, cool right? Right. But he also watches Coronation St. every single day, wears socks with his Birkenstocks, and tells terrible, terrible jokes.
My mum? Former heavy equipment operator and Can-Can dancer in her free time, now working for a Member of Parliament and is a general all-around badass. On the other hand, she cried at every one of my high school band concerts, pointed out my 12-year-old awkward mountain peak boobs to my friends at one of my slumber parties, and generally makes groan-worthy mom comments always.
So imagine my surprise when I found out that my dad was in a successful band in the late sixties and opened for the likes of Jefferson Airplane and The Animals. He apparently also had a night out on the town with David Crosby once "cruising for chicks". Um, excusemewhat?!
My mother? Hitchhiked to Los Angeles. Twice. Left home at 15, lied about her age and worked in a tavern for 3 years. OKAY. SURE.
And the both of them went to Europe by themselves in the 1970s.
I've recently started asking them about their travels there, partly because I have a serious case of wanderlust that is not being sated in the slightest, and partly because the History student in me is fascinated at the thought of what European travel was like 40 years ago.
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