This story is so beautiful, I have to share it with the world:

So, most of the time, my dad watches TV in the evenings in one of two manners: 

1. He is watching a basketball/football game he cares about, so he stays engaged, even yelling at the television when necessary.

2. He just wants to be around his family, so he watches whatever we are watching until he falls asleep in various comical positions.

Last night, Mum and I were watching the Downton Abbey Finale/Christmas Special. I’m sure there’s a basketball game my dad would have rather been watching, but he was cool about it. I expected him to fall asleep somewhere around the 15 minute mark. But he was there THE WHOLE TIME. As an avid bird hunter, he was really into the pheasant hunting. He was also really into the Thomas stealing the dog story line. We gave him short explanations of relationships as information became necessary. He even asked questions. I thought FOR SURE he must be asleep at the end. But no. Tonight, we gave him a pop quiz. 

“So, what happened?”

“Well, Mary finally told him the truth, and asked him for forgiveness, but he said there was nothing to forgive. And they’re going to get married. Matthew and Mary are getting married.”

“Good! What else?”

“Well, Daisy was feeling bad, and she told a couple of people about it, and they all told her that it was okay. That marrying the guy helped him out a lot. And his dad made her his daughter. And that other guy was trying to get in good with the baron, but someone else found the dog and got the reward, so it didn’t work out.”

He had some other details, too. He even added, “And the funny thing was, Daisy was the most made up off screen!” HE HAD EVEN WATCHED/PAID ATTENTION TO THE MAKING OF PART. Bless his heart. Downton Abbey is probably the farthest thing from my father’s interests, but he kept up with it. It’s kind of like how on random Saturday nights, he’ll ask me,

“Is your show coming on? Do you want to watch it?”

And I’ll have to think for a minute and realise he means Doctor Who. And I’ll just have to cry a little inside because I WISH it were coming on and say,

“No, Dad, it’s not. Thanks, though.”

Doctor Who legitimately freaks my father out. But he knows that I love it, and he likes seeing me happy. I just thought his interest in Downton Abbey was so funny and sweet. And wanted to share it somewhere. So, there you go.

We’ll see how next week’s OSCAR time goes. Fingers crossed there’s not a Duke game on.