I couldn't see it at the time, but my father taught me great lessons by the way he lived.
He was a missile engineer and worked on such items as the Sidewinder missile and the Navy's Standard Missile 2 (SM2). Earlier he was part of the team that developed the Navy ASM/N2 Bat gluide bomb, which was a very early ( WWII ) RADAR guided munition. Several of the types missiles he worked on are on display at the Smithsonian extension on the grounds of Dulles Airport outside Washington DC.
He worked long hours and brought work home and still took time to be a father and husband.
One aspect of living that he taught me, both by his expectations for me and the was he lived was the importance of honesty.
If someone is living their life trying to 'get away' with whatever they desire at the time, they will likely be covering their actions up with falsehoods and misdirections. But if someone is guided by a strong sense of right and wrong, they will avoid the activities about which others may lie.
If one is honest, they will be also be circumspect about making promises too easily. This avoids situations where cuircumstances change outside of ones control make the fulfillment of the promise difficult, or may involve short changing another responsibility.
But once my father did make a promise, he would do all he could to keep it and fulfill it to the best of his ability.
There is much in my Father that in my better moments I try to imulate. I miss him, but am confident I will see him in the comming.
He was a missile engineer and worked on such items as the Sidewinder missile and the Navy's Standard Missile 2 (SM2). Earlier he was part of the team that developed the Navy ASM/N2 Bat gluide bomb, which was a very early ( WWII ) RADAR guided munition. Several of the types missiles he worked on are on display at the Smithsonian extension on the grounds of Dulles Airport outside Washington DC.
He worked long hours and brought work home and still took time to be a father and husband.
One aspect of living that he taught me, both by his expectations for me and the was he lived was the importance of honesty.
If someone is living their life trying to 'get away' with whatever they desire at the time, they will likely be covering their actions up with falsehoods and misdirections. But if someone is guided by a strong sense of right and wrong, they will avoid the activities about which others may lie.
If one is honest, they will be also be circumspect about making promises too easily. This avoids situations where cuircumstances change outside of ones control make the fulfillment of the promise difficult, or may involve short changing another responsibility.
But once my father did make a promise, he would do all he could to keep it and fulfill it to the best of his ability.
There is much in my Father that in my better moments I try to imulate. I miss him, but am confident I will see him in the comming.