What I've Learned: Mi Padre

Little Bambinos,
I want to teach you to wonder about the world to let your eyes fall off the confines of road maps and coloring books. I hope I can give you the sense of curiosity that my father shared with me as a child. I think those lessons really started on the long road trips we used to take. My dad in the driver's seat and I his "navigator" learning to read the road map, deciphering the arteries and veins of concrete highways from Michigan to Mexico. To pass the time, my dad would teach my brother and I the state capitals until we could say them by heart and belt them out at record's pace.
"Delaware," he'd say.
"Dover" we'd chime in unison.
As the miles flashed before us, I wondered about the places we'd shouted out. I remember thinking: Do they play flashlight tag in Carson City? Are there Tamarack trees in Tallahassee?

It was never necessary to ask dad "are we there yet?" because he had empowered us long ago to figure this out for ourselves. I loved looking up our destination cities on the mileage chart on the last page of our tattered and frayed road atlas.
"We have 246 miles to go" I would announce to the car.
"What's the next highway I have to take kid, figure that out would you?"
Back to the map I'd go, running my finger along the tiny blue lines until I had an answer. Of course he always knew the way but since he never checked my work, it felt good to know that my answer was respected, my suggestion heeded.

Just a few years ago on a trip to Rome with my family, I stood in line behind my dad, like a little kid, waiting for him to pay for the books I had just picked out about Caravaggio and Michelangelo. We had just wandered the halls of this spectacular museum, our conversation a simple a stream of questions and wonderment.
"Pick out some books kid" he told me at the shop.
"Go on..." he urged and gave me a nudge as if to say "find those answers to those questions kid." The greatest gift I can give you Griffin and little bambino on the way is the present my father continues to share with me, which is to wonder about the world, to be curious about even the smallest of things.