Gifts...

Are you hoping Santa shows up tonight?! I’m lucky, he came early this year…

Actually, Santa shows up most days in my life. He certainly did 46 years ago (the year I met my wife).

Kate is the best gift-giver. I have a long list of presents she has given that I will never be able to match. This year, she outdid herself. In late summer, she told me to “block out” the week of Dec 15th. When I asked why, she only offered, “We’re going someplace.” The little boy in me tried to get more info but she wouldn’t budge. For the last few months, I’ve been excitedly waiting for December to arrive!

Her gift was 2 presents in one. First, she helped me fulfill a “bucket list” item: Visit Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills on the anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight (December 17, 1903). The second present requires a bit more explanation…during the Berlin Airlift, Gail Halverson, a C-54 pilot, began dropping gifts of candy to the children of Berlin as he approached the runway on each mission. Although his actions were outside protocol, they “caught on” and soon the Candy Bomber, as Gail became known, had his own “squadron” who prepared the treats and the necessary parachutes as well as the pilots who delivered the “goodies”.

Because Gail’s charitable act was a true mark of leadership, I included a story about him in my first book, Become the Boss You Always Wanted. You can likely understand my excitement when I found out he was this year’s Paul E. Garber Shrine inductee (sponsored by the First Flight Society). Not only that, at 99 he was going to be at the ceremony. I was elated!

Not only did I get to meet this hero of mine, I had the chance to chat with him and get him to sign a copy of Become the Boss You Always Wanted. I will treasure this gift for the rest of my days. I hope you can see the pictures of him that accompany this post. I hope I’m doing as well at 99. Look how bright those eyes are. Thanks for being a great role model, Gail!

And thanks, Kate, for these wonderful gifts!

If you believe as I do that we should “Pay it forward”, I promise to double my efforts to help good people become great leaders in 2020.

How about you? I would love to know your favorite gift of the year and how you plan to “Pay it forward” in 2020.