I love the picture of my dad in his cap and scarf wearing a pin that says, “Be Young.” It says so much about him. My dad was the youngest 87-year-old you will ever meet – not only because he was still physically and mentally in good shape, but because he still held what seemed to me like an endless supply of wonder about this world. Wonder about art, travel, politics, people, culture, knowledge, architecture – it didn’t matter – he was always interested, curious and amazed by everything around him.
My dad had the best life out of anyone I’ve ever known. Some of that had to do with luck and circumstance – including being married to the world’s best life partner in Chris Fallon and having two very capable daughters. 😊 Some of it had to do with the span of time during which he lived where there was significant progress around civil rights and technological advancements. But a lot of it just had to do with how he saw the world.
He loved that he got to live through the digital revolution, for example. We were early adopters of the first at-home personal computers. And every time there was a new invention or update he was the first to get it. And yet it never became commonplace to him – he never took it for granted. He would play me a video clip on his iphone and turn to me and say, “Isn’t that just remarkable that you can watch something like that on this little phone?” And he’s right – it is remarkable – but most of us don’t give it a second thought.
He also never tired of traveling. Whereas I get bogged down in the hassle of packing, TSA lines and the discomfort of airplanes, my dad was eager to take any flight going anywhere because he saw every trip as a grand adventure. He had been to Germany countless times over his lifetime starting when he was in his 20s and going all the way through his 80s. And every single time he would come back with a bunch of photos of the towns he visited, of their shops and crafts and of the scenery. It was like it was his first time visiting – every time he went.
Just as he never tired of travel, my dad never stopped learning. He loved to learn and he found every new piece of information fascinating to him. I have a friend whose first – and long lasting – impression of my dad was when that friend came over to my house in high school and my dad said to him, “You know, the sweet potato is not the same thing as a yam.” And then proceeded to tell him all about their similarities and differences. Other friends remember my dad telling them about the origins of the word Barbecue or correcting them on the Dutch pronunciation of the cheese, Gouda. (Obviously, food was important to him too!) He loved learning a new, and often obscure, fact and then teaching it to everyone he met over the next couple of weeks.
Because in addition to being a student of life, he was an educator. He believed in the adage about teaching a man to fish – that education is the foundation for self-empowerment. He had a long and successful career as an academic administrator at several large universities and later as an educational philanthropist. There are students and professionals from literally all over the world that he has taught or supported or hosted in his house or visited in their home country and he could tell you all about every single one of them and how smart and interesting they are. And at work parties or ultimately at his retirement, colleagues, students and friends spoke so highly of him and the impact that he had on their education and through that, their lives.
But no matter how old and accomplished he got, if you ever asked him how old he felt, he would say, “Not a day over 18.” And he meant it. He said it surprised him to look in the mirror sometimes because he saw an older man, but he felt the same as he did when he first became a young adult. His three grandsons are now that age and they all love their grandpa dearly. He has been wise and worldly and generous with them. He was always bragging to anyone who would listen about each of their unique talents. And he got to show them the world. He took them on trips to Germany, South Africa, Ireland and Colombia. He showed them his love for travel, for food, for music, for art – and shared with them his youthful wonder of it all – something I hope they will carry with them throughout their lives.
Dad, whatever flight you are boarding now to your next destination I know that you are eagerly looking forward to the adventure that awaits you. And wherever you land I hope that there is an ice cream truck as good as the one in Santa Fe, that there is Opera music playing everywhere you go and whenever you watch a game, I hope the Broncos are always winning.
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