We're all Bruce Lee to somebody

My friend Jim sent me this video a couple years ago, and it still makes me cry when I watch it.



The song is by Nizlopi, and it's an adult remembering back to being a kid and riding with his dad in a big yellow backhoe digger. The singer still remembers everything about the day -- the toolbox he's sitting on, the song they sang together, the looks on the other drivers' faces. Even now, 20 years later, that day is crystal clear in his memory. Because of that moment, his dad will always be Bruce Lee and he'll always be the 5-year-old that idolizes him.

It's pretty obvious why this song gets to me: I'm the dad now. Sophie watches everything Lisa and I do, and we have no idea when some everyday event is going to become a forever memory to her. It might be the walk we took yesterday or the steak and egg breakfast we shared or the movie we watched at 3 a.m. because she couldn't sleep. If he could remember it at all, the father in this song would probably remember a very ordinary day -- a little work, a little frustration, maybe some worrying about money -- the kind of day that adults have all the time. But to his kid, it was none of those things. It was a perfect day spent driving around in a big cool tractor with his dad.

It's easy to forget that our kids need more than just comfort and safety, which we provide by going to work and earning a living. They need those unforgetable moments of joy, which they get when we're just spending time and not thinking about it.