Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy territory.

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, as Plumb and his wife were enjoying dinner in a restaurant, a man who had been sitting at another table stepped over 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?" asked 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 the man.

Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wondered 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 on 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, nor probably ever would.

Now, Plumb asks his audiences, "Who's packing your parachute? Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day."

Plumb 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", "Please", or "Thank you", or congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment for a well-done job, or just do something nice for no reason.

As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize the people who pack your parachute. I am posting this as my way saying "Thanking You" for your part in packing my parachute!!! And I hope you will pass it on to those who have helped pack yours!

Have a wonderful day my friend!

~ Andy