As we all ready to honor America on her 250th birthday, I am reminded of an episode that highlights her magnificence, her majesty and yes, her allure in the eyes of many around the globe.

My cousin, Claudio, 13 at the time, was leaning as far out the passenger’s side window as he possibly could and yet still officially be inside the car. In fact, I thought he was going to strain his back as he craned to look up at all the tall buildings. Either that, or he was going to get clipped by a passing yellow cab.

“Grattacieli,” he kept saying in Italian; literally, “scratching the sky.” Skyscrapers.

We were cruising the main streets of Manhattan. My father was in the back seat; I was driving. Claudio was marveling at New York City’s glistening grandeur.

“Ah, finalmente,” Claudio was saying. “Questa è l’America.” Finally, THIS is America!

My father, from the back, was answering: “No, no, Claudio. This is not America. America is where our family lives. America is Syracuse and the Finger Lakes. This is only a bunch of tall buildings. Grattacieli.”

The debate — and we — rolled on. I listened as I navigated Broadway and Wall Street, Fifth Avenue and Mulberry Street.

But........

© Finger Lakes Times