The Absent Uncle: Moving on
Since my last column’s writing I have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I’ve been trying to stay positive and supportive of my son and his wife Aida leaving the Houston area for the move to the San Francisco Bay area.
He has had a very short transition period after giving proper notice to his present employer and agreeing to a specific date to start with the new company. Sherrill and I have tried to just stay out of the way during those hectic days and feeling fortunate to get a meal together with them and have a great visit to listen to their excitement and stresses about the move, the really wonderful recognition he was receiving from his current work team and supervisors, and the tentative plans to get settled.
They left yesterday (Aug. 20) on the drive to San Francisco with a last-minute drive by our house to say goodbye and give us their itinerary. To say the car was loaded to the max would be an understatement!
In the rush of emotions, I was reminded of a time when he was about 12 or 13. He was already doing some web-based work designing and developing software applications to incorporate into websites for entities and companies. He was doing these things as a result of working with a contact that operated a small IT company providing services to companies such as mine. The owner of the IT company had noticed that my son did a lot of work for me modernizing my processes and invited him to take a stab at some work he had as well.
Over the next year or so he became quite proficient at website design and adding features to customize it to the customer’s needs. When the small town we lived in started looking at improving its website, he made a proposal to provide the service and ongoing support for them.
I remember so well driving to a city council meeting for his proposal to be reviewed and thinking I better be prepared to assist. When the time came for his presentation, I whispered to him to ask if he wanted me to come forward and stand with him, he smiled, shook his head no and strode up to speaker’s podium. He made his presentation, answered the questions about his age, experience, and his plan for the website like he had been doing it forever.
He won the job over two professional firms! His advantage number one was price (hey, this was Kansas – price is always first!); secondly, he lived in the community; and third and just as important as price (I think) was that he pledged to make our little town’s website be unique, responsive to the city’s needs, and help the two-person city staff become more adept at internet skills. He serviced that website through his high school years and for a year or so after he moved away for college.
As they drove away yesterday, I realized he keeps those same principles in play as he moves into ever more responsible positions. Then, as now, I have only a sketchy understanding of what it is he does – but what I am proud of – and know for certain – he is moving on and he’s got it.
