Someone to Watch Over Me



My Dad was, among other things, an engineer.  His formal training came from the US Navy and everything else was self-taught for the most part.  When I was a kid, I would go to his office at the company he worked for.  It was a giant wallpaper manufacturer and I loved the way the place smelled- the giant rolls of paper, machinery, paste, and paint all combined to create a very unique scent.  We always called it the Plant.  He would let me walk around the floor with him, provided I touched nothing, and would tell me how each component led to the finished project.  It was loud and he would have to raise his voice so I could hear him, but I loved every minute of it.  All the guys that worked the machines knew him and respected him.  If John said it, then it was so.  I would bop along behind, a near spitting image of him in miniature, and the men and women would smile and say hello and I felt special as he would drop his big calloused hand on my head and say "This is my youngest daughter" and introduce me to the people who ran the machines.  Then, standing tall, arms folded over his chest, he listened to what they told him.  He respected their opinion because they knew the machine and they respected him because he listened.  Then he'd say "Well......" and start listing off the possibilities as he would talk with his hands.  I don't think my Dad ever knew how much those times meant to me.  I don't think he ever knew how much I learned by his side. 

When he had to go down and get into a machine, he would leave me in his office with my book or coloring or playing solitaire on the computer, so he wouldn't have to worry about me getting into trouble while he was distracted.  He always had a big whiteboard in his office, and somewhere on there, would be a Kilroy, watching over all.  In fact, my Dad's Kilroys would pop up all over the Plant, on people's message boards, whiteboards on the floor, in Big Al's office. 



Someone to watch over me.........



So, recently, when my safety engineers asked me to get a whiteboard for their office, I did so.  On the day it was installed, I went into their office and added a Kilroy to it and smiled.  I miss my Dad, but I know he's keeping an eye on me, one way or another.

Irish