I've got that power, power, power with you here
I've got that power, power, power with you here
It's so electric, baby, what you do to me
I've got that power, power, power with you here ◆
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Violet: The Man, The Myth, The Legend
circa 2015
2,200,000 likes ~ limited comments
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My father relocated to Nashville, Texas shortly after retiring from the NBA to get away from everything and everyone. He was a pretty big deal when he was in the league which a lot of it came down to him being the white boy who could play basketball and the white boy who landed a spice girl.
My parents relationship garnered a lot of attention in the 90s for obvious reasons so they never went a day without the cameras being there. I heard that there were plans to have their own reality series but my dad had a meltdown due to everything going on and not being able to have some form of privacy.
His life now is very private so I try not to share much about him for the sake of his mental health and wellbeing.
"It feels good to have my girls here with me." Our dad says with a smile as we sit on his swinging chair. "You guys need to come down here more often, look at all this beautiful land that your missing out on. I could even have a pool built here just for you girls."
"We know daddy." I smile while throwing my arms around him. "We miss you too and will try our best to see you more."
"Let's take a pic for Olive." My eyes soften at the acknowledgement of his bonus daughter. "She missed out on her seeing her old man."
"We'll let her know that she's sucker for not coming here."
I hold up my phone and we all find ourselves smiling for the picture. It is almost bittersweet as I look at our smiling faces because these moments have become so rare the older that we get. Less time spent together makes all these little trips so worth it so I always try to remain present when I'm with my dad.
"The last time that Olive came down to see me, I took her down to the cowboy dance class that I attend at one of the local bars every friday. The dancer who scores the highest point wins a pretty grand gift and the runner up gets to have all their drinks and food on the house. You can only imagine my surprise when my sweet Olive came second in the competition." He smiles brightly. "I was a proud father and we had our picture taken for the wall."
"So it's time now." Ivy pats his arm. "I hope you haven't forgotten that Mis Violet here is our little dancer so we'll be scooping up the big win."
"Hell yeah, the Vanderwoods for the win." My smile falters after mentioning my surname which I haven't used as much. Our surname is Axele-Vanderwoods but we use Axele as our stage names because that's the name that our mother had us start out with and our dad didn't want more attention being brought to him.
"This might sound weird but we're thinking about starting our own farm or getting our own horses out here." Seeing my dad talk about things that makes him happy always brings a smile a to my face. "I could start a riding school in the next year or two."
