Pass It On

I always knew that I wanted to be a father and when that moment arrived— all the way until the present time— it never disappointed. Amongst a thousand things I looked forward to and eventually cherished was the pleasure of passing on to my kids all the things that I had loved. Not with any expectation that they would love it in the same way— or even like it— but just to open the door. So from reading them some of my favorite childhood books, initiating them into every Hitchcock film and many other classics, hiking, biking, camping and so on and so on, we did indeed share some of the same likes and dislikes (though some disappointment that daughter Talia refuses to ever watch a black-and-white film again!). 

 

Travel was a big part of that and travel we did. While my New Jersey childhood mostly roamed no further than the Jersey shore, Long Island and the Catskills, by the time my daughters graduated Middle School, they had been in Bali, England, Spain, Italy, Austria, Costa Rica, Mexico, Kenya, Egypt, Australia, Fiji and most major areas in the U.S.. By the time they left college, we travelled with them to Ghana, Ireland, Brazil, Cuba, South Africa, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and more. 

 

So now when I travel, I find myself thinking, “I have to come back here with the grandkids! How they would love biking this path in Salzburg, how they’d flip out over this circular pool in Slovenia, how much fun they would have learning games with the kids in Ghana!” Naturally, I also passed through the books and films repertoire that I did with my kids, with many new ones added to the list. I’ve backpacked with Zadie, hiked with them both in numerous places, gave Malik my special San Francisco tour and loved spending every summer in Michigan paradise with them, again, going through the same list my kids went through. But the foreign travel has yet to happen and I’m ready for it. I believe they are also. 

 

Life is extra sweet when you have some young ones that you’re eager to share its sweetness with. Traveling takes on a different tone when you keep finding yourself thinking, “Oh, the kids (grandkids) would love this!”

 

May it come to pass.