March 2017.
I wanted to know him as a human. As a man. Not just as my Father.
He is one of the most important people in my life. We are very close and yet, I knew him mostly as Dad. As a parent. From a daughter's perspective. I wanted to know more.
I wanted to spent some intentional time with him, filled with conversations and questions and discoveries and fun.
I wanted to take him to a place he only knew from TV and a place he would never choose to go to himself. I wanted to give him a little bit of fun back for all the sacrifices he made for me. For all the support he has always shown and for always being my cheerleader.
This week spent together was everything and even more than I had hoped for.
We laughed so much, we explored some, we were a little bit touristy, we had conversations that cracked my heart wide open and we shared tears. It was so interesting to realise how we are connected by shared human experiences, not just by birth.
Having an adult friendship to a parent is such a sweet, strange thing. I am so thankful that I get to experience this and that nobody can take this treasure away from me. It's going to stay with me for the rest of my life.
The evening on a rooftop bar in West Hollywood, where he told me what he thought of me and we talked about childhood and marriage and regrets.
The night we watched the sunset on a beach in Malibu in complete silence. The bike ride at Venice beach and the terribly awkward Hollywood Homes Tour, making fun of our completely disimpassioned tour guide together.
My Dad's reaction at the airport when he found out where we would go. His reaction when we received a Mustang as a rental instead of a Ford Fiesta ( I still have no idea how that happened ). His reaction when he saw the Hollywood sign and all the names on the Walk of Fame he knew from his childhood. His reaction to seeing the sea again. His reaction to meeting Italians everywhere. When he saw Cindy Crawford and he couldn't stop staring and me making fun of him for the rest of the week. His attempts to speak english with everyone. His eyes when he whispered 'Thank you'
It brought me joy to see him happy.
All of the memories are so intense and I can't believe I get to treasure them. To know more, to be on the inside of a precious secret.
I filmed lots of little moments during our week there, mostly to send to my mum - and decided to create a film from a few of them. It's not a great travel vlog, but I made it for my own memory. It may mean nothing to anybody else, but it means so much to me. You can watch it here if you like.
Photos shot on Nikon F80, Fujifilm Superia 400. Developed by Carmencita Film Lab
Here's our little adventure: