Turn the Corner

<Jeans:Free People, Socks:LC, Shirt:Target, Cardigan: J.Crew, Belt: Steve Madden, Watch:MK>

My dad is the lesson man. He persistently turns mundane, ordinary situations into teaching moments; like squeezing in financial exercises when paying for dinner or schooling us on honesty in the middle of a golf game. Most of these conversations end with one of his beloved kids rolling their eyes and saying “I knooooooow, Dad!” And my father, the wise man he is, would make his hand into a little car and curve it around the make believe intersection while saying “One of these days you’ll turn the corner.” After a while, my dad wouldn’t even have to say anything but just do the “turn the corner” motion and we’d get the point. I swear I could practically hear his gesture over the phone when I would admit to cramming for test (that of course I didn’t do well on) or that time I forgot to pay my car insurance. I’m pleased to report that I have not warranted the idiom for quite some time.

But a funny thing happened yesterday. While I thought this family phrase would cease once I had indeed “turned the corner”, I have found that it is only part of my vocabulary to be spitted out to students. For those who do not have a loving father to remind and reassure them that if they work hard, one day with will pass those critical points, they will make positive steps toward their future and they will be the person they want to be. And while speaking with a student in my little cubicle, I happily curved my hand around the corner, smiled bright and said, “One of these days you’ll turn the corner.”