Devil’s Cat Toy
Have you ever watched a cat toying with a mouse? Have you looked on as the cat batted the mouse around with his paws, while the mouse tries to escape every chance he gets, only to be held down by the tail and then batted around again? I can empathize with the mouse. This past weekend I felt like I was being toyed with spiritually. It all started on…
Friday
Friday my father retired after 28 years with McDonnell Douglas/Boeing, and as is the custom, there was a small retirement party held in a Boeing conference room where cake and soda were served.
Aside from the large number of Dad’s coworkers, around 40 or so, there were Dad’s two brothers, my aunt and cousin, my brother and his wife, my nephew and my mom in attendance. We were all seated in a large conference room in Boeing’s St. Charles campus where Dad’s boss and a couple of co-workers said a few words. Then, my Father stood up and spoke to the group. I have always viewed my Dad’s public speaking abilities as…er…shall we say “sub par”? So I was especially interested to see this part of the festivities.
Guys, I will tell you I was never more proud of my Dad. Not only was his speech funny and entertaining, it was peppered with references to great projects and achievements that he accomplished during his career. You had to know my Dad to know he was bragging, to an untrained ear it would have just sounded like a list of projects, but seeing Dad’s face, and seeing him command the other engineers attention, along with the response he garnered from them, told me that he was in his element. Dad was, and is, an incredible thinker and teacher. He left a mark on Boeing that will be there for some time, as well as a mark on his coworkers that they will never forget.
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