He was basically a very good man, and it would be very difficult to find someone to testify otherwise. He was thoughtful, sacrificial, never lost his temper, was trustworthy... well, you get the picture.
He started college but before he could finish he was drafted into the Korean War. But by the time he finished boot camp the war had ended so he never had to see battle, thankfully. I can't remember why he never finished college, but he was very smart and that never seemed a detriment to his professional success, as you can tell by his business card.
I guess it wasn't long after leaving the military that he went to work for Boeing. I can't expect you to know this about the history of Seattle, but in the early 1970s Boeing was laying off a lot of people when the energy crisis hit and airlines weren't buying airplanes.. At that time Boeing and Weyerhauser were the two major employers in the area (again, this was before Microsoft and Starbucks). A lot of people left the area due to losing their jobs at Boeing or other companies benefiting from Boeing's presence in the area. There was a famous billboard during that era saying "Will the last person in Seattle please turn the lights out?" (you can see a picture of it here: http://geoffhom.blogspot.com/2008/11/will-last-person-leaving-seattle.html). My dad was fortunate to make it through that time unscathed.
But as the city rebounded and traffic worsened as a result, he got to really dislike the commute and tried to get a transfer to another unit so he could have a shorter commute, but that would have meant leaving the aerospace division of Boeing, and as I understand it, Boeing found him too valuable in aerospace, so he had to stay where he was. If I recollect correctly, his time in the military (even though it was just 3 years) laid a good foundation for him to work in the military end of Boeing's work.
The reason why I'm focusing on Dad's work, although he was certainly much more than his profession, was that, as you'll see, his work and my interests conflicted and we both suffered from it, but I think I did more so.
That's all I want to say about this for now. Thinking about this is raising my stress level, which is in turn affecting my fibromyalgia. Besides, I have a lot of errands I have to do today, so I'd better get going.
Till next time...
~Meg
