Ride On Josephine - George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Hey Will. It’s Mom.
A couple of years ago, Daddy and I spent Christmas in Germany and it was amazing.
Traveling and making sure you see the world is a priority for us.
Anthony Bourdain said it best:
“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.”
I want you to understand how big the world is and how little we all actually know. How the best thing we can do for ourselves is to remain eternally curious, hungry for bread and love and thirsty for knowledge.
When you’re a little older, I really want to replicate the trip Daddy and I took to Germany - the Christmas Markets will infuse you with the spirit of the season and I promise you that we will feast on delicious German breads, lebkuchen and drink gallons of kinderpunsch and gluhwein just like we did.
But let’s be honest - we didn’t go for the delicious Bavarian treats or the Christkindlmarkts.
Not really.
We went because your father loves him some fine German engineering and there are four car museums located in relatively close proximity of each other.
We visited all of them - Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
It was at the latter that Daddy test drove a convertible Porsche Targa on the Autobahn.
He maxed out at 160mph. He is very proud of this.
So, why am I telling you this?
Firstly, to let you know that you come from a line of men who love fine automotive engineering and if it turns out that you love cars too - you’ll get it honest.
After all, your Poppy has forgotten more about cars than most people ever know.
On the opposite side of that spectrum, you have me. I don’t know shit about cars and couldn’t tell you what a carburetor does if my life depended on it.
BUT, if this is something you love - I’ll take you to car shows and museums and we’ll watch Gone In 60 Seconds like a million times over.
I’ll even get you a chance to drive a sports car on a track like Daddy did.
Wait. No. That’s insane. What am I thinking?
I immediately regret this decision.
More importantly, I’m passing on the only thing I know to be true about cars. Being weirdly evangelical about Springsteen has taught me a thing or two and one of the biggest takeaways is this - a long drive with good music always helps.
You shift gears, you shift perspective and all of a sudden, things make sense again.
When you need a moment to think things over, when you need some peace, when you need some closure - get into the car and drive until it makes sense again and know that home will always be waiting for you.
Granted, this advice is a little more applicable when you’re a licensed driver closer to adulthood but I promise you that until then - we’ll have lots of drives together. The whole family - Daddy, me, you, Rox and Bones - listening to great music and feeling free and happy with every passing mile. .
