Heading West: Day 3 – From Presidents to Cowboys

Our travels started today with a drive-by of the Mt. Rushmore monument. Both of us felt that, while majestic, it was “smaller” than what we expected. We continued on, making a stop at Jewel Cave (tours were fully booked, so we didn’t get to go into the cave) and then on through some beautiful scenery on our way to Cody, Wyoming.

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Neil Armstrong

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Custom dictates that a commencement speaker give a word of advice to the new graduates. And I feel a sense of discomfort in that responsibility as it requires more confidence than I possess to assume that my personal convictions merit your attention. The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control. You can lose your health to illness or accident. You can lose your wealth to all manner of unpredictable sources. What are not easily stolen from you without your cooperation are your principles and your values. They are your most important possessions and, if carefully selected and nurtured, will well serve you and your fellow man. Society’s future will depend on a continuous improvement program for the human character. And what will that future bring? I do not know, but it will be exciting.

The author of “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a pilot in World War II, which, unfortunately, he did not survive. Fortunately, his writings did survive, and I will pass along one piece of his advice. In Saint-Exupéry’s “Wisdom of the Sands,”he wrote: “As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.”

-Neil Armstrong

I remember staying up late to watch Mr. Armstrong step off the lander onto the moon surface. I met Gene Cernan a few years ago, the last man to step on the moon. It’s been nearly forty years since those events… Who will be next?