Years ago we had Neil Armstrong speak at a business convention. He spoke about setting a goal and achieving that goal regardless of how difficult the goal may seem. Kennedy set a goal that by such and such a date we will send a man to the moon and return him safely. Armstrong liked the part about returning safely. Everyone in the plan had accountability to perform their role by a specific date. If dates slipped that time had to be made up. With no one in Washington having any accountability today, we couldn’t set a goal to send anyone anywhere. It would be like setting a goal to eliminate the deficit by such and such a date and getting it done. Even thinking about that makes me laugh.
Neil Armstrong was the real deal. You can tell a lot about a person when you ride with them in a golf cart for four hours and talk about things other than outer space. Neil Armstrong was modest, shy, and very down to earth, excuse the pun. Toward the end of the round, I heard him say, “oh no”. I looked up and there were a dozen people around the 16th green. By the eighteenth there were a hundred. Someone put out the word that Neil Armstrong was on the course and they showed up to spoil his last few holes.
He signed the scorecard and I gave it to my Mom. She said it was like having something signed by Christopher Columbus.
Neil’s family says look up at the moon and give Neil a wink every now and then. Believe me, I will.
