Careful.

Happy Birthday, Pop.

This poem was always tacked above my Dad's workbench ...

The Little Chap Who Follows Me

A careful man I want to be;

A little fellow follows me.

I do not dare to go astray

For fear he'll go the self same way.

I cannot once escape his eyes,

Whate'er he sees me do, he tries.

Like me he says he's going to be;

The little chap who follows me.

He thinks that I'm so very fine,

Believes in every word of mine.

The base in me he must not see;

The little chap who follows me.

I must remember as I go

Through summer's sun and winter's snow,

I'm building for the years to be;

The little chap who follows me.

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.

Umberto Eco