Among the list of the greatest inventors of all time you will find well-known individuals such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and James Watt. Others were perhaps not as prolific or household names but their inventions nonetheless have an impact on our daily lives--William Edward Addis who invented the toothbrush, Melitta Bentz and the coffee filter, or Laszlo Biro and the invention of the ballpoint pen. You won't find my father's name on any of these lists but perhaps, if we hadn't made fun of his invention, he would have been.
It was a warm July day and our family was preparing to head out on our annual camping trip to the Okanagan Valley in BC. We were getting the trailer packed up and our dad was in the garage working on a few things. What it was, we didn't know, but when he emerged he was carrying a pair of shoes he had made for my sister and I. Thick, wooden bottoms were meant to attach to our feet with the help of wrap-around straps. The result was a pair of shoes which could be worn into Lake Okanagan at our favorite stretch of beach. Although we loved the location, the first few feet were very rocky and painful on the toes. The shoes were meant to help get us past the rocks and out into the part of the lake we loved. They were fabulous in function but absolutely dreadful in design. They were, to put it bluntly, ugly. But our dad was certainly ahead of his time in trying to design something of this nature. Years later there were several options on the market. Oh, if we hadn't laughedimagine the possibilities!
The part I like best about that memory is the number of times we as a family have enjoyed the hilarity. Years after his passing the mere mention of his "water shoes" can send my sister and me into a fit of laughter. Such a simple memory of a life well-lived, but one I cherish.
Benjamin Franklin was a father to three children, Thomas Edison to six, Alexander Graham Bell to four, while James Watt fathered seven children. Apart from their names and in some cases the occupation they went on to pursue, relatively little is known of most of them. Far more is known about the obstacles their fathers encountered as ideas were pursued, prototypes built and objects patented. This isn't surprising. What these inventors gave to the world was profoundly impacting and for those of us who came much later we can be very grateful. I wonder if in their devotion to developing their inventions, these individuals were as devoted to their families? For the sake of their sons and daughters I hope they were as ambitious, creative and attentive as fathers as they were as inventors.
There are many variables by which the success of a man can be measured. Often times some degree of earning power or job title is factored in. It might be education, fitness or the type of vehicle he drives. In a materially-focused culture this is often the bar by which he is judged. But how much more meaningful life could be if he was measured by his character, his integrity and the way he loves his family. For a man who has children it becomes even more crucial because being a good father is of the utmost value.
My father never patented anything, never published a book and never climbed the corporate ladder-although he could have quite easily done any of those things had he chosen to. Instead he devoted his life to his faith and to his family. Whether it was sitting by our bedside praying, playing Monopoly with us at the picnic table, or making time to stop at an historical monument on a road trip, his thoughts were on us. Where some might conceive of a design and wonder how to turn it into a profit, his only thought was his family's comfort on the beach.
We were so important to him. He loved us tremendously-and we knew it. He was one of the most successful men I ever had the fortune to know. That's my outlook.
