What Inspires Me: A Depression-Era Dad and Pioneer Mom
What Inspires Me: A Depression-Era Dad and Pioneer Mom
My personal inspirations are my parents. Yes, I admit it's a bit cliché, but their voices have been in my head for my entire life.
I grew up with an older dad and one with a very unique history. He was 50 years old when I was born in 1957. He was born in 1907 and graduated with a degree in US History from
Harvard
University class of 1929 - an auspicious year in our nations history. His
formative career years, and the years that would inform his perspective about
the world, started that year working in New York City on Wall Street as a
runner. A "runner" in those days actually ran orders to buy and sell manually,
lacking any technology, of course, they physically delivered transaction
requests.His early career experience was watching the collapse of the entire financial system seemingly overnight from the front seat of the great depression of the United States, These years from 1929 through the early 1930's developed his views of how to live - with a focus on austerity.
"A penny saved is a penny earned"
"Waste not, want not"
"Neither a borrower nor lender be"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"
His messages to me of savings, thoughtfulness, conservatism, and preparing for the worst influenced me greatly.
By 1939 my dad was 32 years old and World War II was his calling. He joined the Air Force as a Second Lieutenant, ultimately was assigned to General Doolittle, and spent the war under his leadership in North Africa, Italy, and elsewhere, leaving the service as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Growing up with my father, a history book with front line views of so many foundational periods of the US Economy and it's history in the 20th century translated to me in constant lectures on hard work, saving, austerity, and more.
My mom, on the other hand, was a Red Cross volunteer during the war. 14 years younger than my dad, she was a "traditional" mom of that period, staying home and raising my sister, brother and me. Her story is quite different. She was an active Episcopalian and became one of the first Ordained women to be accepted into the Priesthood of the Episcopal church. Her life was about giving, poetry, being a friend to many, performing countless weddings, baptisms and funerals - including the baptism of our four children. Her professional life came later in her life as she defied those in the church who did not want women in the priesthood, ultimately working as a supply clergy in a church in Kennebunk Maine where both my Dad and Mom spent the remaining years of their lives.
The pair - a depression-era war veteran, hard working executive, and stern father, and a pioneering and creative mother - taught me how to live my life. Here are a few of my lessons that sum this up:
- Save for the future
- Work hard
- Take measured risks in your career
- Enjoy life
- Help others less advantaged
- Survive any change
- Question authority
Photo courtesy David H. Stevens
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