If by some miracle I fathered a child
then that child would never know his great-grandparents. He wouldn't
know Abraham Lincoln either so that might not come as a big surprise.
But my point is that he would not know people who were instrumental
in his own existence and formative to my own.
I drove both of my grandfather's cars.
They preferred larger 8 cylinder cruisers with power windows and
blue or brown interiors. Neither of them owned as much as a socket
set. Their cars smelled like baby powder and aftershave. Their words
as we cruised down the street were casual references to my beard, job
prospects and girlfriends.