Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam . ...After 75 combat
missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb
ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6
years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now
lectures on lessons learned from that experience!
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man
at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! .... You flew jet
fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk . You were
shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that! ?" aske d Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied.
Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.
The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. .... If your chute hadn't worked,
I wouldn't be here today."
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says
... I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform ..... a
white hat a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many
times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, How are
you?' or anything ... because,
You see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb
thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table
in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding
the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of
someone he didn't know.
Now ..... Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through
the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes
when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his
physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and
his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before
reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is
really important. We may fail to say Hello, P lease, Thank You , or
Congratulations, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no
reason.
As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people
who pack your parachutes.
I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in
packing my parachute ..... And I hope you will send it on to those
who have helped pack yours!
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without
writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: ..... When you are very
busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you
forward jokes to let you know that you are still remembered, you are
still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for .
So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've
been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of
today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to
send you a SMILE , just helping you PACK YOUR PARACHUTE.....
A friend sent this to me and I immediately thought of all you wonderful mods always packing my parachute!
Much Love,
Mary
missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb
ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6
years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now
lectures on lessons learned from that experience!
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man
at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! .... You flew jet
fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk . You were
shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that! ?" aske d Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied.
Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.
The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. .... If your chute hadn't worked,
I wouldn't be here today."
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says
... I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform ..... a
white hat a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many
times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, How are
you?' or anything ... because,
You see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb
thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table
in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding
the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of
someone he didn't know.
Now ..... Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through
the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes
when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his
physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and
his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before
reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is
really important. We may fail to say Hello, P lease, Thank You , or
Congratulations, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no
reason.
As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people
who pack your parachutes.
I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in
packing my parachute ..... And I hope you will send it on to those
who have helped pack yours!
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without
writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: ..... When you are very
busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you
forward jokes to let you know that you are still remembered, you are
still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for .
So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've
been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of
today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to
send you a SMILE , just helping you PACK YOUR PARACHUTE.....
A friend sent this to me and I immediately thought of all you wonderful mods always packing my parachute!
Much Love,
Mary
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