Posted: under Musings.
I worked for a construction company for 15 years or so and made a lot of friends along the way. I managed to cultivate friendships with the owner, office staff, and cohorts. Somewhere along the way the company needed to expand and a partner was brought in to help the finance and engineering department of the expanding company. It was a needed change for the company but it was unwelcomed by many of the minions inside the new company. Including me.(insert sad face) This new addition to the company was a certified engineer who had the personality of an elitist in-bred aristocrat. He was rather snobbish to the foreman of the company and had complete disdain for the worker bee’s such as myself. He was an a$$. Not everybody’s able….?
One morning, years ago in Alaska, as I was getting verbal instructions for the upcoming days work from my boss and owner of Exclusive Landscaping the construction company in Fairbanks, the elitist in-bred aristocrat entered the construction office smiling and made made reference to landscaping foreman Phil Petman. The elitist in-bred aristocrat said very seriously, “You know Dan(Dan is the owner) I just left Little Phil. I talked with him for five minutes and I have never felt better. It is to bad I cannot put into pill form the feeling that I get after talking with Phil. He is such a nice guy. After talking with him you cannot walk away in a bad mood.” I was dumbfounded. Hmmm… the in-bred aristocrat was saying something that I agreed with. Phil is a very determined, hard working, and completely honorable human being. He is a peer who should be emulated. Not everybody’s able…?
As friends go I seemed to have accumulated an odd group. Not odd in the sense that they are strange but leaning to the ecletic. I have at least three friends from my industry over thirty years. One friend in finance, others in education, tourism, business, the health field, military, and police work. Most of these friendship were born though familiarity. If you keep going back to the same place you will eventually meet and like someone. That is why friends are so special. The commonality of familiarity makes for warm feelings that, if needed, can last a life time. The early friendships of my youth give credence to my theory as do the friendships of my days of construction in Alaska. The early friendships of my youth have been separated by distance, location, employment, and circumstance. They remain intact for primarily one reason. Trust. Now my most recent friends are being tested the same way as the early friendships for they are in Alaska and I am in Texas. As a construction worker one has a reputation to uphold. It was never good to be considered wild with the equipment. Working with humans on the ground with equipment that could and would crush or otherwise maim the ground person is a very serious occupation. My friends in Alaska have that kind of trust in me. As the friendships of my youth that are the most enduring have been separated by time and space so are the friends in Alaska experiencing the same dilemma. Yet the friendships remain strong because of… “trust”… Not everybody’s able…. ?
Lasting relationships don’t come by accident. There is always a commonality. Familiarity becomes a breeding ground for friendships. Enduring friendships have trust. Another condition for continuing friendship is “respect.” This was brought to my attention by a longtime childhood friend, Ruth Johnson. I had contacted her through the Internet and had asked if she might have a moment or twenty to discuss a situation of which her opinion would have import as to how I deal with a situation. The conversation went well and she commented on how she appreciated the respect that I had paid her by asking if she would have time to discuss something. I have always said the I would rather be lucky than good so in this case it was luck that I paid her repect since I knew that the topics to be discussed would be primarily about me this particular phone call so I knew(I guess this is where the respect comes in) that the person that I would be calling needs to be prepared to listen to my whining(Ruth later informed me that I did not whine…I was reticent to agree but finally acquiesced). The call ended after more time than either one of us expected it to last. Conversation flowed effortlessly with a comfort that only comes with true friendship. Not everybody is able…?
Willingness is another factor for a friendship to remain. Case in point is my recent lunch with Rex and Pam Rockhill from Fairfax. Virginia. Rex is a classmate of Ruth Johnson and myself. He was in Texas visiting his daughter and son-in-law who live in Boerne, Texas during the school Christmas break. Rex and I had hooked up on Facebook. We then made tenative arrangements to meet for lunch. I have to say that I was giddy with excitement. It had been thirty plus years since their wedding day. It was the same amount of years since I had seen either of them. The willingness of Rex and Pam to take the time to come to Harker Heights is another example of how a friendship can flourish. Without their willingness I would not have the memory of our lunch together. Not everybody’s able…!
More on the lunch and hopefully a picture of two in the days to come!!
Jan 08 2010
Posted: under Education, Friendship, Holidays, Life Experience, Marriage, Musings, My Youth.
I know I had made a wish for a Happy New Year in my previous post but today is the first day of the year that we get to live that wish. I am excited!! I know…why is he in such a good mood? Oh, I don’t know… maybe it is because I am lucky? or maybe it is because I have been blessed? or maybe … this is the way it is supposed to be? You know what? I think it is all three and I will tell you why through the course of this post.
Lucky…? Ya, I would think so. I lived through a farm accident involving a PTO, tractor, and loose clothing. I lived through a traffic accident in which everyone went to the hospital by ambulance and I walked away unscathed. There are to many construction accident stories to recount so I won’t even go into those but you get the idea. I think these all had a commonality besides me being in them. I think angels would be the common denominator. Angels come in different forms. My little brother Karl, was my angel the day of the farm accident. What would prompt a little boy to shut off the PTO at exactly the right time to save his little brother? I say an angel did. I say an angel was with me when I was held upright while all around me was turning, toppling, or smashed in the traffic accident. I say an angel was with me each day of my work keeping me safe as I go through the daily grind. Oh sure…everyone tries to be safe. No one tries to cause an accident. There were those times when you have to wonder…. hmmm… that could have been me. Yep, it has to be angels.
Blessed…? Ya I would think so. I am still here am I not? Without regard to the aforementioned accidents there are other things to give thanks for as well. First I was blessed to have been born to a loving family on a farm in Iowa. another lucky? Possibly, but this is more than lucky. This is a blessed event that I will give thanks to God for the rest of my life. I was given a life to learn and grow in a safe and loving environment. I was shown how men act. I was shown how friends are treated. I was also shown how friends were made. Ya I am lucky but I am blessed as well.
Yesterday, I met with the Rockhill’s, now from Virginia, who were married almost 39 years ago in Kansas with me and several other high school friends in attendance. Rex, my former classmate, and his wife, Pam, came to town to visit with me and my wife. We talked, laughed, and hugged. Although we have never met in person since the wedding day I felt no change in the intensity of the friendship that once was. Here was a friend who had reached out to say hello. It was warm, refreshing, and the way it is supposed to be.
So yes, I am lucky! I have to many lucky stories to NOT know that I am. Yes, I am blessed as well. I thank God for that very thing each day! But the way it is supposed to be, is something that I am most appreciative of on this date. It is another sign of what normal is becoming for me. It is not the old normal. That will never be again. I am living a new normal. Meeting a friend of 40 plus years and having coffee with them for the soul purpose of saying hello, wishing each other well and being happy is a new normal that I relish. This is the way it is supposed to be is it not?
Jan 01 2010
Posted: under Education, Friendship, Holidays, Life Experience, Musings, Technology.
Well, we made it another year. We fooled them all and I am not going to tell anyone. I have a habit of scanning the pages of several newspapers that I receive on line as I set at the computer at our kitchen table. It is my early morning ritual to garner information on my already formed opinion that somehow lean the way that I think, rather than people I know that use the same sources to help make them come to an informed opinion by reading opposing views. In other words at this point I know what I know. (sounds a little like Popeye does it not?) Admittedly, one must take on new ideas to be fair but as I fought with my Father’s ideas when I was young I still am my Father’s son I must say that having been there I know what does and doesn’t work even if I didn’t do it correct the first, second, or even third time. All that says is that I am stubborn…kinda…sorta….maybe a little bit…? Can anyone spell denial? LOL!!
So in the process of getting news sources I do happen upon the informative side of the Internet. That would be my horoscope. I never have been one to have any faith what so ever in astrology but I must admit that I read them all the time and laugh. I would say to myself. “This stuff is so general in its meaning that it could apply to anyone.” Then I would read it. Think about it. Then cast it off with a whim. I gotta say that this little snippet of astrological information must be right! This is no generalization of information but hits the nail right on the head. This was written for me.
quoted text from an astrological reading found on the web while surfing the Internet today.
Your renowned intellect has been strained the last couple of years, as it’s been forced to find solutions to the many issues you’ve been dealt. In 2010, you’ll finally be gaining some traction on your biggest challenges, and solutions will flow to you with ease.
So armed with this knowledge from such a reputable source(the Internet) I submit to my readers this wish for a Happy New Year and rest my case. It must be right. It was on the internet.?!
Dec 31 2009
