Up & Coming Weekly

THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET by MARGARET DICKSON Every once in a blue moon a concept grabs me with such force I simply cannot quit thinking about it. It happened recently when a childhood neighbor and friend, Richard Alligood, related a story from a book called Aim for the Heart by Tom Matthews. The story went something like this: Captain Charles Plumb was an American fi ghter pilot in Vietnam, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who fl ew 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam. On the 75th mission, his streak ended, and his plane was shot down. Plumb parachuted to safety but was captured, imprisoned in a small cell, and tortured for 2,103 days. I pulled out my calculator for that one. It translates into a little more than fi ve years and nine months. Plumb survived, and was eventually released. He was awarded a Silver Star Medal, a Bronze Star Medal, the Legion of Merit and two Purple Hearts following this ordeal. Not too long after he returned to the United States, Plumb was with his wife in a restaurant when a man approached and said: “You’re Plumb! You fl ew jet fi ghters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down.” Plumb, who despite his heroism and valor, did not think of himself as a recognizable fi gure, asked the man how he knew who he was. The answer? “I packed your parachute.” I have never jumped out of a plane and never plan to do so for the simple reason that my fear of heights would probably cause my heart to stop before I ever touched the ground. Richard has never jumped either as far as I know. This story, though, reminds us that no matter what we may think, we never really are alone. We are the products of the work of many people, known and unknown, close to us and far away. When he told the story, my friend Richard talked about the people who had formed him, and it made me think of my list as well. My parents, of course, packed the early part. My mother put in a love of reading and of learning and the importance of kindness and of putting the needs of others before one’s own. My father packed a sense of history and of community and the love of good company and of a good time. My sister, like all younger siblings, instilled the necessity of give and take and of compromise. She also became an expert at bursting my bubble if I began to take myself too seriously, a lesson which always infuriated me but which I, like most fi rst- borns, must learn time and time again. My grandparents taught me unconditional and encompassing love. I was precious to them and I knew it, once asking for a goat for my birthday. My grandfather was prepared to grant that peculiar wish until my mother nixed it, saying goats were not allowed within the city limits of Fayetteville. My paternal grandmother taught me a lesson I never forgot. She caught me hitting my younger sister at the foot of her stairway and sat me down right then and there to say that would not be tolerated in Packing Our Parachutes her house, and I never tried that again. Countless teachers, though certainly not all of them, taught me lessons about academics and about life, and friends from all stages of my life have enriched my life with humor, good times, support when I need it, and a safety net I know is there even when I am safe. My uncle, Victor Dawson, taught me how to be in business kindly. Employees come fi rst, because without them there is no business. And he taught me to have fun now, because as a commercial now running on TV so aptly points out, “life comes at you fast.” Nothing packs a life more than a family of one’s own. Spouses and children see and know all things, strengths and weaknesses, generosity and miserliness, excesses and limitations, and they never let you forget they know. Miraculously, they seem to love you anyway. The unidentifi ed man may well have packed the parachute that fl oated Captain Plumb safely to land and saved his life, but I doubt Plumb could have survived his subsequent ordeal without the courage, strength and determination packed into him throughout his life by family and friends and others who touched him and affected the formation of his character and personality. This is surely what English poet John Donne meant when he wrote “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.” We are both what we make of ourselves and our opportunities and what other people shape us into being. Which brings me to the obvious question. Who is packing your parachute? Perhaps even more importantly, what are you packing into the parachutes of those around you and those you hold dear? MARGARET DICKSON, Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JUNE 30-JULY 6, 2010 UCW 5

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