Don Quixote was the main character in "Man of La Mancha", with its wonderful score,and was made into a movie in 1972. We played the record over and over while I was growing up, learning all of the words and singing them often. My sisters and I would laugh at our father, think of him as Don Quixote with all of the adventures he would take us on. At the end of the movie, when Don Quixote was dying, while laying in bed, he remembers the "quest" and jumps up and shouts to Sancho and his Dulcinea:
"What is sickness to the body of a knight-errant? What matters wounds for each time he falls he will rise again. And woe to the wicked! Sancho!""Here your Grace."
"My armor, my sword!"
" More mis-adventure?"
"Adventures, old friend."
The cry of more mis-adventure became the battle cry at home when Dad would get the urge to go for a drive on Sunday afternoons with all of us in tow. It was the battle cry when we would take family vacations together in RV's that had a tendency to break down. It was the battle cry when they built the addition on the the family home. It was the battle cry when illnesses and injuries came into play in the family. So I could not resist when I saw them at a sale for about $3 those many years ago.
It also was the battle cry for the family when twenty some years ago, my brothers, at the urging of my dad, started a business called Roadware Inc. We all went to work for this company when economic conditions, bankruptcy of another company and the desire to dream came together. It became his quest. To start his own busines, work with his family, become successful and make a difference. The figures became again a centerpoint in his office, as we all realized that we could reach that unreachable star.
To dream...the impossible dream....
To fight...the unbeatable foe....
To bear...with unbearable sorrow....
To run...where the brave dare not go....
The business started in the family garage. We laugh now when we think about how living in Minnesota, no one got to park in the garage in winter, semi-trucks pulling up in front of the house and stopping all traffic in both directions as we would run out and empty or load said truck. Or how the company took over the lower rooms and bedrooms to house the business and the handful of employees and owners who worked every day.
To right...the unrightable wrong....
To love...pure and chaste from afar....
To try...when your arms are too weary....
To reach...the unreachable star....
Today we have moved that business into its own home, manufacture our own products and ship them throughout the world. We get steady paychecks, we get calls from all over the world, we have more adventures. We have a family who are friends and friends who are family.
This is my quest, to follow that star....
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far....
To fight for the right, without question or pause....
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause.....
And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest....
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach...the unreachable star....
You have been a good role model, mentor, teacher, friend, storyteller, and a great father! You have instilled in all of us to dream the impossible dream, to run where the brave dare not go. To right, to love, to try and to reach the unreachable star!
Happy Father's Day !
