by Ryan Surber, Encast CSO and co-founder
They say the most important thing to know in everything we do is the WHY behind it. That in order to achieve, in order to succeed the WHY must be crystal clear.
In a large way, I do what I do because I want to succeed in carrying on my father’s legacy. My father’s name was Keith, but he was known as “Sonny” to his mom, family, and friends. Sonny didn’t always get it perfect. And maybe he was more imperfect than perfect. But that is more than okay; that is human.
I am my father’s son. And I know my smile is his smile. And my laugh is his laugh. And my motivation is his motivation.
Dad laughed when others didn’t. He didn’t have to make it a practice to see his glass as half full because he simply didn’t know any other way. He served his country. He served his community. And he served causes that were larger than himself, and beyond his family. If he was called upon, “yes” was usually the only option that made sense to him. This was Sonny.
To me he was the man who gave me the tools to succeed. Funny enough, growing up he cared less that I would succeed, whatever that meant, and cared more that I tried. To him, the important thing was that I tried.
He did what he could to help me, to teach me to earn cash for myself, and encouraged me to pursue the journey of figuring out what was important to me. He paid for my trips to explore options, provided my machinery to explore hobbies using my hands, and afforded me time to try.
When it was impossible for my teenage mind to grasp my parents’ sacrifice, he was there sacrificing, knowing the long play was growing two sons that understood family, civic, and personal responsibility. And every parent knows the long tail here – that the extreme sacrifice today could take years, or even decades, to pan out.
But my dad didn’t have decades. He barely had years.
