Sometimes I think where we end up in life…how high we go…how far…
can be symbolized not only by the family tree…but by the family car.
For me it started with my parents driving our family station wagon…it’s interior painted black….Where my initial dreams were fashioned…while riding in the back.
My first dreams consisted of a more egocentric point of view…
dreams made just for me…I hoped one day would come true.
Then one day my dreams became less conceptual….less fantasy…more real…
The day I went from riding in the back and got behind the wheel.
By now I was married driving a mini-van…with an interior painted black…
Wondering what my children were dreaming about while riding in the back.
I remember the moment they were born…how I closed my and wished they’d have a happy and healthy life…free from danger…free from heartache…free from sadness…free from strife.
And how I began to drive more carefully keeping my wife and children in my rearview…
my dreams now much more focused on helping their dreams to come true.
And from a place in the back of my heart and mind…a place no one else could see…
I dreamed of the life my children would be living and the people they would be.
Having much more driving experience…I knew what was best for them…at least that’s what I believed…until they got behind the wheel and my vision was replaced by the vision they conceived.
And I gladly shed my dreams for theirs…they transformed quite easily…because, looking back, that is exactly what my parents did for me.
I realized, as my parents realized, the dangers and sadness of life I can’t keep them from averting…and the best I can do when they’re sad is to stand beside them while they’re hurting.
As they continue driving…on their journey…as their own dreams they pursue…
I am happy to sit back, smile…realizing my original dream has come true.
That even though I can’t protect them form heartache, sadness and strife…
our children have been able to live a healthy and happy life.
For they know on whatever path their dreams may take them….
whenever the road ahead is painted black…
If they look in their rear view mirror
they’ll see me riding in the back.
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