Authentic Moments: Intro + Jim Gaffigan

We all have our things. Our little eccentricities that we squirrel away from others lest we come off as weird. A couple I know, on their kitchen wall, keeps a running list of all the pluralized compound nouns containing a noun and a postpositive adjective (I totally had to Google that). For example: heirs apparent, attorneys general, I think they even had Burgers King and Shiners Bock. God knows grammar is not my thing (I have no idea what a postpositive adjective is), but ever since I was little, one of my favorite things to do is to write down little moments I observed or read about throughout the day that really struck me. Things that gave me a glimpse inside a person’s character. A peek into their interior life. It happens around us all the time. People react, respond and we see what they are made of. So this is what an authentic moment is. Moments that show us a person’s humanity. Whether it be the virtue of the moment that strikes a cord or the vice, or the nerdiness, or the love, or the sadness, or even just the humor, these are moments of authenticity. Moments of truth. I’ll post new Authentics Moment Authentic Moments (AM) every week. Geez, I’ve got to do something with all those journals.

Authentic Moment #1:

A touching dedication from Jim Gaffigan to his wife in his book, Dad is Fat:

The image of Jeannie sitting at her computer turning my insane drivel into coherent essays while breastfeeding newborn Patrick will stay with me forever.

And just when you think he’s broken character:

She really has ended up being a fantastic first wife.