Who’s Packing Your Parachute?

Last year at the annual MEMSPA (Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association) conference, Paul Liabenow, the executive director, shared the following story. I don’t think there is anything I can add to the story to make it better, so I will just share the story as is. I hope it’s as powerful for you as it was for me.

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane as 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?” 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 that 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 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 man 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.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, “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, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, 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 parachute.

Source: plumbtalk@aol.com

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Teddy Roosevelt

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” – Ronald Reagan

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

 

 

• Monday, January 22: Celebrate Monday Assembly 9:05 AM, Skate Night at Riverside Arena 6:00-8:00 PM, Dave & Busters Dine Out 5:00-8:00 PM
• Tuesday, January 23: IEP (Trantham) 8:15 AM, Achievement Team Meeting (Kaufman) 10:00 AM, District OSS Meeting 1:00-4:00 PM
• Wednesday, January 24: Battle of the Books Committee Meeting to create teams 8:20 AM, Elementary Principals Meeting 1:00-4:30 PM
• Thursday, January 25: Staff Meeting 8:05 AM (Kristen presenting on RAZ Kids), All students participating in Battle of the Books meet in gym to choose T-Shirt colors 2:35 PM, PTA Meeting 7:00 PM
• Friday, January 26: Kindergarten Team Meeting with Jon & Sydnie 8:30 AM

 

• Monday, January 29: Student of the Month Assembly (Confidence) 9:05 AM, iReady Window opens for K-6
• Tuesday, January 30: REED (Ringler) 8:15 AM, REED (Homebound Student) 9:30 AM
• Thursday, February 1: Staff Meeting 8:05 AM (Katie presenting on differentiated instruction)
• Friday, February 2: VIP Dance at Riley Upper Elementary 6:30-8:30 PM