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I can't believe it took me nearly 25 years to figure it all out.

After graduating from college with high honors, carving out successful careers in journalism, business management and sales, you'd think that I would have come to the conclusion that one common comment throughout my life wasn't as much of a physical description as it was a compliment.

We will get to that comment in just a few moments...

My hero was the second of five children born to a Detroit Police officer in 1953. He played a few sports growing up including baseball and ran track. By his account, he never played to a level in which you would hear much about him, or see his stats on the back of a Topps card. His passion was in taking apart various household items and infuriating his parents.

Tim was more of a student instead. He always excelled in math and sciences, studied Latin for a time and was always an above average artist with incredibly impeccable penmanship. He will tell you that he is, and was, a geek. I prefer to think that he is more of a constant student of the world around him.

Upon graduating from high school, Tim wanted to attend the General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University) in Flint, Michigan where he would be able to put his budding engineering skills to good use. Unfortunately, financial constraints kept Tim from attending the school of his choice and enlisted in the Navy instead.

Tim left Detroit with his wonderful young wife, a job with the U.S. Navy on the Nuclear Submarine, the U.S.S. Henry L. Stimson, and little else.

Years later, Tim left the Navy and has worked as a training instructor for various nuclear power plants throughout the country.

He is still married to his wife, Barbara, and has raised three successful children that range from 32 to 27 years old. He is characterized by his incredible work ethic, his ability to overcome personal adversity with an indelible smile on his face, a constant desire for self-improvement and the only man I have ever known that can operate a motor vehicle for over 10,000 miles on a single oil change.

Tim, like the rest of us, has made his share of mistakes and will be the first to tell you that he is a flawed human being.

This, however, does not change the fact that he is the hardest working and smartest man I have ever met. It does not deter him from seeking out new paths for his eduction from learning to play the piano to "googleing" any unfamiliar term that may happen across his path.

Why do I tell you all of this?

Because the chances of finding Tim in any history book or website are slim, and I felt that somebody should tell the story of such a great man.

...Now for that comment I mentioned before:

"You are your father's son."

It always was, and always will be more of a compliment than just a simple description. I can't believe it took me so long to figure that out.

Better late than never.

Thank you, Dad.

Learn more about this author, Joe Jenkins.
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