L'Dor V'Dor - From Generation to Generation

Back in the 80's, television went through a period in which showing of what "real men" did included building gadgets and coming up with creative fixes. Each episode of the A-Team contained a montage of B.A. Baracus (Mr. T) building some necessary vehicle or fortress in order for the team to help solve some victim's dilemma. However, no show was better at it than the Richard Dean Anderson classic, MacGyver. With the tagline, "His Mind Is The Ultimate Weapon," MacGyver was the guy into maker spaces before there were maker spaces. He was known as the character who could build any gadget, make any escape, or solve any problem with his pocket knife, some duct tape, a paperclip, and whatever else was laying around. Furthermore, he would explain it to you as he built it. It was a cool time when fictional characters did more than simply drop one liners, they did real things too.

In the 80's, it wasn't a big stretch to see guys building things because we all knew those guys. The ones who just did home improvements, tuned their cars, got up on the roof and fixed the roof. It was a time when real people actually fixed things. If something didn't work, we didn't just go back to the store and return it, but we went to the repair shop to fix it or you found your guy. I've been lucky enough to have two such MacGyver's in my life. Uncle Deedles was the original. He built an entire cabin in Canada. He had a blow torch in his garage and an oscilloscope in is his basement. I remember him hooking up motors and running pulleys. He always had something in the works. Uncle Deedles moved to the Pacific Northwest in the 80's and I went MacGyver-less until the mid-90's. Then I met my father-in-law Don.

Don was a throwback. Like Deedles, he had a 100 different projects in the works. His basement was a treasure chest of tools. There were saws, grinders, wires, wrenches, and conduit. He was always fixing something, and like MacGyver always willing to tell you how he was doing it. Not only was he the dad who would be waiting up for you on the couch to return with his daughter from a date, he would want to tell you about the project of the day when you got there.

As a first-time homeowner, Don was the father-in law you wanted to have. He taught me how to snake the plumbing and install a sink. He was there on a weekly basis as I finished up the basement, teaching me to frame the room, bend conduit, install electrical, and tape drywall. Don would stop by each week, teach me a skill, give me homework, and comeback to check if I'd done it right.
Don knew things that most college-grads never dreamed of. He was a guy who did his own tune-ups and oil changes. Taught me how to change brake pads. He barbecued and fixed things. And most of his projects were mostly done most of the time. Over the past few years, Don slowed down. As many of us, not being able to do the projects he once did. But his gifts didn't slow down. Last year, my friends were rebuilding their kitchen. Logan, my youngest son, and I went over to Don's, borrowed the reciprocating saw, the pipe bender, and a couple of sledge hammers and went to work to help them. For a couple of months, there we were. Hammering away, hanging in the crawlspace running conduit and fishing wire. A young man learning to be the next generation of MacGyver as he hung with his dad.

It's been a hard week around here. Last Saturday we lost Uncle Deedles and yesterday morning, Grandad Don passed away. While I sit here crying, writing, and crying, I look at little reminders and realize that your gifts go from generation to generation. While you might be lost, your legacy lives on. Although my friends may think I'm handy, I am a poor substitute. My brother Roy is the MacGyver of my generation. He's the guy when you need to go down the pit to fix the well or sweat copper, you call. As I look at the next generation,  Cameron is me in far too many ways to count, a digital child who is the son of a digital child. However, Logan is very much both of you. Last night, there he was building away at some creation. Some cardboard, tinker toys, trinkets, and other stuff. Little projects started here and there. Pausing to explain to anyone who would listen, how the creation works and what it does. An engineer coming into his own living in a world that once again embraces creativity, innovation, and maker spaces. He will be the MacGyver of his generation. L'Dor V'Dor, the Hebrew saying of from generation to generation.

MacGyver