“I See You …”

“It lets them know we’re in this together, and we’re here for each other.”  Grandpa G  

My mother’s father, Grandpa G, was a farmer, and when I visited the farm as a boy, I would spend hours tagging along with him as he went about his daily farm chores.  One of the things I got to do was ride in the front seat of his Ford pick-up truck (stick shift and all), which made me feel quite important.   

As we would drive along, I noted that Grandpa, with his right hand draped over the top of the steering wheel, would make a hand gesture of raising 2 fingers on his right hand every time we passed a car coming in the other direction or when we passed someone walking along the road.   They would often return the gesture.   

One day I got up the nerve to ask him why he did it, particularly for people he did not know.  Grandpa was a man of few words, and I noted that before he said something important, he would preface it with by repeating “yep” 3 times.  So on that day, he said to me “Yep, yep, yep … it lets them know we’re in this together, and we’re here for each other.”   

I subsequently come to understand that this gesture is known as the “rural wave” and has various other regional names as well.  It’s something I still do whenever I’m driving in less congested settings.  For that brief moment there’s a connection with another human.  I’m saying, “I see you.”  And they regularly return the gesture.  

During this time social/physical distancing, quarantining, “virtual” life, and protest nationwide by those who feel they’ve been “invisible” for too long, it is more vital than ever that we make a conscious effort to connect with those who come into our path, even if only briefly – to let them know, “I see you.”    We really are in this together and are here for each other, but sometimes we forget.   Thanks for the reminder Grandpa.  I’ll pass it on ….