Learning from the best
June 19th, 2022
As we celebrate Father’s Day, I found it fitting to take the time to write about the one person who has profoundly impacted my life. When I served in the military, I would bring my father up in conversation frequently and would usually start or finish those interactions with, “He is the smartest person I know,” but he is so much more than that to me. When I was younger, I never truly appreciated how smart, kind and generous he was. When he was fixing something or helping someone, I was always too busy in my own world to see the skills and abilities he lent to anyone who needed it. This carries on to today, where he is very active in helping those around him that need a helping hand. Beyond his general concern for helping others, he is also a man who is wholly self-made and has everything he needs and most everything he wants (sometimes multiples of the same things). He has never made much money but has a keen eye for deals that may benefit him or someone else down the road. These savings over time allowed him to retire early and focus on his true passion of helping others…sometimes at his own peril (trying to do too much with an aging body). He still never says no to the task at hand because he knows that the person asking needs help, and his acquired items, skills, and abilities can make their life easier and save them some money in the process. As I reflect on my life, I’m proud to say that I carry some of the same traits as my father. I’m always looking to lend a hand, give what I have acquired, and lend my knowledge of building and fixing things to others. Also, as I look around, there are very few like my father….he literally can do anything well, and if he can’t do it, he will read about it so he can…I still have so much to learn from him, and I’m truly blessed to have him in my life as he has made me a better person and father to my own children. So yes, I still tell all that listen that my father is the most intelligent person I know. I hope I can emulate the traits that also make him the most unselfish person I know. I’m truly blessed to have such a fantastic human in my family’s life, and I look forward to many more years of looking up to and learning from the best human on the face of the earth.
Love you dad, Drew