Dream Big

I remember when Dad was pursuing his consulting business in Cleveland (roughly 1978?). Although Dad and Mom tried not to burden us with the details of our difficult economic situation, we could not help become aware as times grew lean.

Prior to this, as one of the middle of eight kids, I do not recall spending a great deal of time in casual conversation with Dad. He was generally at work all day at the bank, and traveled quite a bit. On Saturdays we were often doing chores (sometimes together), and Sundays he could sometimes be busy with various Church callings. Now, he was often at home, working in his office.

I became very interested in Dad's success; primarily, I suppose, because I was curious to know what the prospects were for us to be able to overcome our difficult circumstances. So, I began stopping by to ask how things were going.

Dad often seemed to have a rather exotic set of characters seeking his help financing their interesting variety of business of proposals. He may have attracted such because more traditional financing sources found them rather too risky. The need for a creative, non-traditional approach promised relatively high fees and profit-sharing arrangements.

I recall Dad telling me about the well-connected Venezuelan(?) fellow who was trying to sell multi-millions worth of confiscated oil-field equipment in Latin America, ...before it rusted away to worthlessness; who was very happy to share a generous (several millions of dollars-generous) slice of the profits with the guy who could arrange the financing; ...or the guys with a revolutionary technology to improve the dialysis process; ...or some high-risk, high-profit mining operation.

The projects were often interesting and varied; the profits were often dizzying. It seemed that succeeding in any one of these several projects would put us "on easy street." I would often sit in rapt attention as Dad would share his excitement for one of these opportunities (schemes?) And I think that perhaps he appreciated me taking such an interest in his efforts.

Although we never did hit one of the really big ones; and Dad eventually accepted the bank job in Oklahoma, this experience helped me find optimism during a rather difficult time. ...and even more importantly, helped me build a deeper relationship with my Dad.

After all these years, I still see that, when it comes to pursuing his dreams, my Dad hasn't lost that spark of optimism and a desire to work to accomplish "the big one." His example continues to help me to remember to "dream big!"