Retirement

After his retirement Dad move to California, Charlie was in constant communication with the family, writing letters, weekly phone calls and visits to their homes.  Sunday visits to Charlie"s home were carefully scheduled to avoid over crowding by the 28 grandchildren but even then those little fingers would somehow find their way sight unseen to the adjustment controls of Grandpa's TV.

Charlie delighted in the fact that his daughter in laws provided frequent invitations to dinner, washed and ironed his laundry and called on a regular basis if only to just "check in".  He recorded each event in his daily diary and kept a complete record of calls, visits, meals and services performed by each of the boys and their wives tallied up at the end of each year.  Its not clear if these statistics were used in deciding who would receive jewelry boxes and other items he created in his workshop or paintings that he made on his trips around California.

Dad taught his family well defined values, instilled high standards for performance and demonstrated by example a level of honesty, integrity and initiative that in the end allowed each of his children to identify and exploit opportunities and manage the challenges that life presented on both a personal and a professional level. 

One-liners

Dad was also a master at using one-liners that stopped us in our tracks and stayed with us for a live time.  He used one-liners during our years at 499 as far back as I can remember.  He gave credit for many of them to his Dad, e.g. "My Dad would say..." as I do when quoting Dad today.

Dad's one-liners never stopped coming. They served as guidelines that we used in following his advise in our lives and careers. I believe the one-liners taught us much of the how and why of our successes with families and careers.  I began writing them down so they were sure to live, here's a few:

People spend their lives wishing they were somewhere else and when they get there do it again! You can have anything you want in life, all you have  to do is decide what you'll give up to get it! There are good times and bad times but the important thing is there are times! The only difference between fear and excitement is the state of mind! The only thing worse than bad news is bad news that come late!  The mind is capable of rationalizing anything, all it takes is time! The world is full of geniuses who don't know they exist! If you don't pet the kitty, you'll never get to pull its tail! The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Never give up, Its not over until its over!People only want what they can't have!   If you can't bite, don't bark!