My dad is a civil engineer. He’s my five-star Uber driver, a Michelin-star chef, a professional soccer player, and somehow knows how to fix every single thing in the world.

I never thought much about it when I was younger. I would sit there and patiently hold the flashlight for him as long as he needed, or I’d hand him whatever tools he called out for.

But now that I’m older, it’s really set in.

What do you mean, this guy designed and built our entire backyard deck? The deck that has held up for the past decade, and looks like it could for at least a few more?

This guy took apart all of the carpeting in our basement, renovated the entire basement and installed new wooden floor panels?

And the scariest part: I’ve NEVER seen this guy pull up a YouTube tutorial for any of this. Each time there’s a new mission, he leaves for Home Depot, comes back with scattered nails of very specific sizes and gets to work.

I know it’s not just him either: both my neighbours are retired, but incredibly talented. One is a woodworker who knows how to differentiate wood based on grain patterns and can flawlessly make wooden bowls. The other has been detailing and building cars since he was 16, and I’ve seen him turn an empty skeleton into a drivable show car. His most recent project has been a 1963 Ford Thunderbird for a buddy of his!

I wonder if this is a skill that I don’t have enough XP to unlock yet.