On my mother's bones, my father's hair...

Have you ever analyzed the various features you may have inherited from your parents?  It's been a habit of mine most of my life. Perhaps I got it from my Grandad who, when he first beheld his number one grandchild, declared, "She's Diggle from the ankles down, and Polushin from the ankles up!" (Yes, I also inherited interesting surnames.)
   
My mom couldn't carry a tune in a paper bag.  My dad was a fine singer. I don't need a paper bag. My mom is an avid reader and very fine writer with some publishing success. I have published a little. My dad had the sense of silliness and the quick temper. Mom is absent minded and seldom punctual. Both gave me stubbornness, although I like to think of it as strength and purpose. Both gave me their senses of humor. Dad loved to travel, and if I could, I would never unpack my suitcase. Mom loved to garden, and from May to October, my fingernails are never quite clean. Dad's political activism, Mom's sleep patterns, Mom's cooking, Dad's eating, and so it goes....

Both were terrific role models in so many ways. I don't know many people with the kind of integrity and generosity I have always seen in my parents. Of course, this extended into their politics. Both were very progressive thinkers and the circumstances of their times -- immigration, depression, war, farming -- demanded that they live their lives with stringent fiscal responsibility. There was never room in their realm for parsimony or narrow thinking. Treating our neighbors with respect and generosity was a given. 

I like to think I have inherited all this, but perhaps it has been more due to the effects of environment than of genetics. I have found precisely these characteristics in the renewed Alberta Party. I wish for all my children exactly the kind of Alberta I envision as possibility through the leadership of this group of incredible pioneers in politics. To me, it is the politics of my people, both past and future. 

On a final note, my dad was bald. My mom has osteoporosis. Can't win 'em all. 

That's it from here. Go out and hug someone who looks sad.