Mentors

Mentors. 

I was thinking about mine the other day, when I was struggling with a project and wondering what direction I should follow. It was one of those "WWGD" moments, as in - What Would Garold Do?

Garold was my first woodshop teacher,  and was perhaps the first person to actually suggest that I could make a living at working with wood. 

I was about 15 at the time, and he seemed so much older and wiser - when in reality, there  was only about ten years difference in our ages. (Twenty-five years later, we discovered that we actually share the same birth date - how's that for irony?!)

He was big on brainstorming and sketching, and pushed me to build things I would never have attempted on my own.  I often find myself with pencil in hand, working out details on a napkin or scrap of paper. Or even giant sheets of cardboard. 

Later in life, he left his teaching position at my high school and joined Kent State University, where he was involved in their wood program. Some of my best memories involve giving lectures to his freshmen classes, discussing the role of women in the woodshop. Afterwards, we'd share a meal and a beer, and catch up on life.

He's retired now - if you call building a cabin, and working part time - retired. If I'm lucky, we speak once in a while, catching up on old friends or what we're building. 

So - Happy Birthday, Garold! Wishing you many more years of creativity and good health!