HIstory

 While my first love has always been business another lesser-known one to the outside world has been my love of history. History brings back a lot of memories for me. Both of my grandfathers were fans of history. I have fond memories of my dad's mother telling me stories of the twelve labors of Hercules by heart. The other grandfather told me stories of the local area. He told me about the family that I came from and where I could go. Both of these men instilled in me from an early age that history is a roadmap to the pitfalls of the future. As I have gotten older I have seen this play out many times in my life, and the times when I have gotten burned the worse it is when I have not paid enough attention to my own past. I think history is often overlooked. Most people consider it to be old dusty books in a library, but from it, I have learned some of my most valuable lessons. I have collected a lot of books over the years and I have tried to keep up with reading even as my schedule has gotten crazy. Often when I am looking for answers I have found that those in the past struggled with the same issues. Plato and Chaucer have identified these human issues many times in their writings. When I am worried I have found comfort in knowing that worries around fear love and friendship have been around long before I was born and will exist long after. One area where history and business have combined is in the hobby of coin collecting. It has helped my father and I come a lot closer over the past few years. I have found that coin collecting can tell the stories of empires as well as their downfall. More importantly, however, it has allowed me to combine both of my interests and help me spend more time with my father. We often discuss how the history of a company's business practices appears in the modern world. Fraud existed in the ancient world in counterfeit coins. History has always been there for me and it brings me comfort when I am confused. It is able to bring me joy when I sit back at night and think of the fun memories with my grandfathers. I am glad that it continues to help my father and I stay connected and look forward to using it to connect with my children one day.

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