salaam


my best friend called his dad a couple of days ago with a hardware question, and upon hanging up, he said something like, "man my dad knows everything you would ever want to know about this stuff." yeah. his comment sort of stuck in my mind, for a couple of reasons. of course it impresses me when people are very, very knowledgeable about something i have little experience with (for example hardware and the mysterious business of constructing big, bold, useful things out of nothing)- but more than that i am constantly awed by how varied people are. i know so many people who do what they do incredibly well- but who differ from one another completely. i remember making plans in college to start a commune with my friends- we're all so different that we figured whatever we need, someone would be able to do. and we were probably right...

but more than that, this hardware comment stuck with me because i instantly thought of my dad - i take it for granted that if i am lost anywhere, ever, i can call my dad and he'll know exactly what intersection i am near, and the best way to get out of there and found again. it's incredible, really. how does he know? how does he do that?

they seem like little things, really- nuts and bolts, driving directions... but they are not little things. they belie a parental wisdom that can only be gained through the kind of full life (full of mistakes, that is!) that i am still in the process of living- that they are still living themselves. if learning from my mistakes is indicative of some sort of forward movement, some - dare i say it - progress, then i can at least look forward to accumulating a fount of wisdom that will amaze my own future children...

one can hope. *grin*