I would like to say that I have always been enthusiastic to get down and dirty and work hard, however, if I am being truthful I would have to admit that growing up, hard work was the farthest thing from my mind. I wanted to spend every waking moment spinning my dreams and figuring out how I could make every one of them come true regardless of practicality. I simply wanted to have fun. Each and every day I knew my father was getting up early and making his way to work to support our family’s lifestyle. As a result, I only tended to see my father in the evening, as awakening from my slumber at a grave 5:00 am was simply unheard of and something I swore I would never have to do. I would be so special and such a stellar individual that mundane obligations like awakening for work were beyond the scope of any employers delegations; I WAS WRONG. My miscalculations were pretty frequent growing up and my father so kindly used patience and living by example to begin to teach me the most valuable lessons. Every day, when our paths collide, I am met with an optimism so unique and pervasive it can mend any emotional affliction that might have presented in me. It is this contented radiance that had forever intrigued my little mind as a youngster, simply wondering,”What makes him so happy.” Not a question easily answered but certainly something I intended to emulate. Over past few years, I have begun to understand that his sense of contention is coming from his attitude toward hard work.
My father has worked for a telecommunications company for the last 36 years. For the majority of those years he has worked as a Network Technician. Working everyday, rain or shine, outside amongst the elements; a job criteria a lot of people try very diligently to avoid. Growing up, he never graduated high school, getting his GED at a later date, which was the end of his formal education. Funniest thing though, he hasn’t appeared to have missed a beat as his awareness and ability to learn is uncanny. He lives everyday with the same passion and sincere appreciation for each and every moment, which I find so rare it is worth writing about. My father does not live this existence for any external appreciation or gratification, he just IS this way. I see how his appreciation for a day in a manhole or climbing telephone poles permeates his entire day and exponentially his entire life, and now, graciously, into mine. This philosophy of living life with an uncanny, optimistic outlook can span a lifetime of conflicts and concerns and a lesson I will be eternally grateful for.
Essentially I want to thank my father for teaching me the value of hard work and the most important life lesson I have ever learned which is that life and the pursuit of happiness, if I may, is all in the attitude. Most importantly this lesson was taught graciously by example. MRW seemed like a fitting place to begin to show appreciation for a lifetime of hard work and manual labor and of course doing what I can to live out the same doctrine as I have come to believe in its value just as much as my father does. Today is my father’s first day of retirement, and I will not find anyone more deserving of some time off than my father. I look forward to many crazy and slightly impractical projects together in hopes of learning a little bit more each and every day.
Dad, you are simply the greatest model of humanity for myself and I thank you and thank God everyday for having such an outstanding mold to model myself after. Mike Rowe, it must be said... you rank pretty high up there as well.
A most grateful daughter,
Krista
My father has worked for a telecommunications company for the last 36 years. For the majority of those years he has worked as a Network Technician. Working everyday, rain or shine, outside amongst the elements; a job criteria a lot of people try very diligently to avoid. Growing up, he never graduated high school, getting his GED at a later date, which was the end of his formal education. Funniest thing though, he hasn’t appeared to have missed a beat as his awareness and ability to learn is uncanny. He lives everyday with the same passion and sincere appreciation for each and every moment, which I find so rare it is worth writing about. My father does not live this existence for any external appreciation or gratification, he just IS this way. I see how his appreciation for a day in a manhole or climbing telephone poles permeates his entire day and exponentially his entire life, and now, graciously, into mine. This philosophy of living life with an uncanny, optimistic outlook can span a lifetime of conflicts and concerns and a lesson I will be eternally grateful for.
Essentially I want to thank my father for teaching me the value of hard work and the most important life lesson I have ever learned which is that life and the pursuit of happiness, if I may, is all in the attitude. Most importantly this lesson was taught graciously by example. MRW seemed like a fitting place to begin to show appreciation for a lifetime of hard work and manual labor and of course doing what I can to live out the same doctrine as I have come to believe in its value just as much as my father does. Today is my father’s first day of retirement, and I will not find anyone more deserving of some time off than my father. I look forward to many crazy and slightly impractical projects together in hopes of learning a little bit more each and every day.
Dad, you are simply the greatest model of humanity for myself and I thank you and thank God everyday for having such an outstanding mold to model myself after. Mike Rowe, it must be said... you rank pretty high up there as well.
A most grateful daughter,
Krista
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