[wdfifteen]

I need courage.
There are three men in my life that I need to talk to. They are basically my heroes - I need to tell them how influential they have been to me. I suck at this kind of thing. They are all in their 80s now and I have to talk to them while I can. Their influence is so profound I'm afraid I'll get weepy in front of them.

I worked for Fred in his hardware store when I was in high school. I learned how details like keeping a neat shop and knowing something about each customer lead to increased sales. I learned respect for customers and how to draw the line between bending over backwards to serve the customer and bending over backwards to get screwed by the customer. It's a fine line. That knowledge served me well over the years.

My friend George, who knew squat about customer service, taught me that being a fearless innovator - so fearless that you had to walk away from a plumb career to pursue your ideas - worked only if you went in 100% and refused to look back. His example inspires me to this day in projects big and small.

Mike taught me that quiet persistence can lead to great things. Mike worked for corporate America and worked it to his advantage. He never bucked the system but never bought into it. He stubbornly did his own thing under the radar, and made a 40 year corporate career an entrepreneurial "business" inside the corp. He spends his time now studying whatever his latest passion is and traveling the world.
These guys won't be around much longer.

I love them and I need to tell them so. But they aren't the kind to be receptive to that language and I'm not the kind of guy to give it.