Holladay
It’s been a stretch since my last post, but this is a good one. As I’ve said numerous times, my goal with Bumper’s Garage is to tell the story of mentorship. I like to tell the stories of individuals like Bumper who give their time and experience freely for the benefit of anyone who wants to learn. Meet my uncle, Harold.
Pilot, machinist, mechanic, carpenter, farmer, teacher. A truly capable individual who never backs down from a challenge. I’ve heard it said that there isn’t anything Harold can’t fix. Even now, when it comes up in conversation that I am working with him, I hear one thing time and time again. “You can learn a lot from that man if you’ll just pay attention”. It’s true. It’s up to me to absorb everything I can from our time together. The lessons are not always obvious and are usually only taught once before I am expected to accomplish them on my own. That’s not to say he won’t show you how to do something more than once, but rather he’s not afraid to let you feel it out on your own. He comes from the old school of getting things done.
He understands the value of experience and hands-on training; his own catalog of knowledge coming largely from those who preceded him. In talking with him recently he made a simple comment that I keep going back to in my mind. “Nobody will help you out like family”. I don’t even remember what we were talking about, but that stuck. It reminded me of something that happened at a family reunion years ago. There was some activity we were all involved in where we were asked to share something of the family that meant a lot to us. When it came to Harold, he started recalling all of the uncles from their large family that had taught and guided him as a young man. Emotion overtook him at this point and the next person in line continued on, but his sincerity at that moment has stayed with me. Nobody will help you out like family, but that’s the great thing about Harold. Anyone that asks for his help gets treated like family. They might even learn a thing or two if they’ll just pay attention.
- Geoff