The Littlest Things

One of the most profound realizations I have had over the past few years is the idea that while grand gestures are important in life, it is frequently the "little things" that we hold most dear to our hearts...

A couple of years ago I was travelling back to Lincoln to be with my mom while she was in the hospital. Considering the circumstance I was not exactly looking forward to the trip.

After I made my travel arrangements I e-mailled my family in Lincoln to let them know that I would be renting a car at the airport and would therefore not need to picked up after my flight. I knew everyone would be stressed out by the situation at hand and did not want to require any of my siblings to make an airport run. Also, you need a vehicle at your disposal in order to get from point A to point B....no subways available.

My flights to Lincoln were, as usual, quite draining. Couple that with the concept of travelling to Nebraska in the wintertime, and my mom's health issues and needless to say I was not in the best of moods when I de-planed.

As I left the gate and was approaching the baggage claim area I saw that my dad was waiting for me on the concourse. As I approached him I smiled, began to embrace him in a hug, and I stated the obvious "Dad, you didn't have to come and meet me I told you I rented a car". His light-hearted response was "Oh I had to come and meet the Captain at the airport!"

In a split second my mind and heart were blown away. As a kid my dad for some completely inexplicable reason, nicknamed me Captain. At the very least it had been 25 years since he had called me that. So long, in fact, that as an adult I began to second guess my childhood memories "Had he every called me that or did I just dream it up" I frequently wondered. Although I was curious, I never brought the topic up for fear of looking like an idiot if I had created the nickname in my head.

"Oh I had to come and meet the Captain at the airport!"

When those words were spoken I cannot describe the warmth I felt in my heart, in my soul. As an understatement I will say that my dad and I have not seen eye-to-eye on a lot of topics. But in that instant I was transported way back to a much simpler time in my life. An amazingly innocent time in my life. A period where neither my dad nor I was harshly judging the flaws of the other. A point in my existence with significantly less manufactured bullshit in my relationship with my father.

A time when all that mattered was that he was my dad and I was his "Captain".