How Do You Really Feel?

I have a seven-year-old daughter who is very bright and wonderfully inquisitive, even if she's not a fan of doing her homework. Earlier this week while in the car, she asked me how plastic was made. I explained to her that plastic was made of polymers, which were just really long molecules, and that unlike wood or stone or glass, they were all man-made, not found in nature. Later in the week, also in the car, she said to me, "Daddy, how do lasers work?" I was rather stunned by her rather blunt question, but I was more stunned by the fact that she actually understood as I explained to her how lasers use an optical cavity with one complete and one partial mirror to create a beam of light that is very focused and all one color. I even explained to her how a diode laser worked and that there is a tiny laser in every CD and DVD player. Amazingly enough, she seemed to understand.

The next day as I was dropping her off at school, I pulled her aside for a moment and told her how incredibly proud I was of her. I told her that not only understanding the things I was explaining to her, but actually asking to have them explained, made her a very special little girl. I got a big hug and a kiss on the cheek out of the exchange, the latter being a fairly rare occurrence as she gets older. I nearly cried because of how powerful that moment was for me; I think the only reason I didn't was because I very quickly had a little pair of blue eyes rolling at me, as if to tell me "Daddy, did you really need to do this in the parking lot?"

Yes, yes I did.

Earlier this year at work, I had to stand up for a co-worker who had ruffled some feathers with some higher-ups by breaking protocol to help me out in a bind. He didn't have to do it and by all accounts probably shouldn't have, but he did because what mattered to him was getting the job done, not keeping the bureaucrats happy. I wrote an E-mail to his bosses explaining the situation and taking the heat for him, and I wrote him a separate E-mail thanking him for helping me out.

I'm very glad that I did those things when I did because shortly thereafter he was killed on his way home from work in a car accident.

So, the next time you see someone you care a great deal about, who find extraordinary, who makes your world a better place, or all of the above, make sure that they know it. No, you shouldn't to pour your heart out to everyone you care about every time you see them; that would get really old really fast for everyone around you, not to mention yourself. But at some point, sooner rather than later, let those people know, because you never know when you'll never have another chance.

I'd like to dedicate this post to the memory of Russ Estep. He was one of the good guys in life and knew his way around the CVTC systems at work like nobody else. We miss you Russ.