Yesterday, as I moved about my day trying to stay dry in the rain-soaked Miami Valley and enjoying a sense of newness beyond The Haasienda’s borders, I recognized a number of folks who could not avoid the rain due their job responsibilities.

There were the cart-retrievers at Kroger; delivery folks for various stores at Town & Country shopping plaza; mail carriers; street and utility workers; lawn maintenance folks for the City of Kettering; teachers on bus duty; food delivery folks; construction workers (some were on a slick-looking roof); and a number of other occupational needs.

Since childhood, Mother often cheerfully reminded me, “remember, someone else made this possible.”

Mother referred to food produced by farmers; food delivered (mostly pizza from Elwood’s Pizza King); an altered suit or slacks; utility workers when our power went out; always our mail carrier for whom we often left treats, cheerful notes or a cool cup of lemonade or water on hot days; waitresses (or servers) at restaurants that took good care of us during a meal; Zip Davis or Francis Clark who took care of our hair; a new car that someone built and someone else maintains; those M&M bags don’t get into the store’s bins without being delivered and stocked; or any number of occupations that resulted in my basic needs being met, as well as my not-so-basic needs. The list is endless!

Today, as I just learned, May 24th is National Aviation Maintenance Day. It was selected to honor Charlie Taylor’s birthday, the brilliant mechanic who worked alongside Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Charlie Taylor, like his bosses, gave us a boost toward the skies. Neil Armstrong and the Mars helicopter each carried with them a part of Mr. Taylor’s efforts.

Here is the article that announces this commemorative day: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2021/may/17/celebrating-aviation-maintenance-technician-day

While we all strive to make it a great day, let’s not forget the many folks who, sometimes at great expense, help us make our days great!