13. Homer and Heroes
Today is 27 days from the first anniversary of Dad’s passing. I’ve committed to writing 40 stories about him as that day approaches. Forty Steady Stories.
In February of 1999, I went to see the movie October Sky with my oldest and best friend, Scotty. I wasn’t that excited about the movie title and didn’t know what it was about, but I’ll go see any movie with Scotty — even today. It’s about being together more than being at a great movie. And trust me… Scotty and I have seen some terrible movies together.
Then I found out it was about kids shooting off rockets, and I was ALL IN. (Actually “October Sky” is an anagram for “Rocket Boys”!) I love rockets and space and space travel. I spent much of my childhood firing Estes rockets into the air in the fields at the Celanese headquarters where Piedmont Row is now. That said, I had no idea how the movie’s story would impact me — even all these years later.
Scotty and I sat down with popcorn and Cokes and watched a movie about rockets. Only it wasn’t really about rockets. It was a story about boys and friendship and fathers and sons with some rockets thrown in for good measure. It’s a great movie. We were more than an hour and a half into it — just eight minutes before the credits rolled — when I saw a scene that really got to me.
Up until that point Homer (NOT Simpson, but Hickam) and his dad had been struggling in their relationship. His dad assumed and desired that Homer become a coal miner like he was. But Homer saw Sputnik 1 launch in 1957 and began launching rockets with a few of his friends in Coalwood, West Virginia. Homer and his dad had some tough conversations, and it reminded me of some of the tough conversations Dad and I had when I left the family business. I’ll cover that story later.
Back to the movie… Homer and his friends win the national science fair and he meets Dr. Wernher Von Braun — the legendary rocket scientist who Homer talked about quite often.
Then, with just eight minutes left in the movie, Homer asks his dad to come see the big launch. His dad responds that he’s got a lot of work to do, and Homer starts to walk off. Then his dad says, “I hear you met your big hero…” referring to Dr. von Braun.
Homer turns around, comes back to his dad, and explains that he wants to pursue science and rockets and not coal mining. Then he says, “I only hope I can be just as good a man as you are. I mean sure, Dr. Von Braun’s a great scientist. But he isn’t my hero.” He then looks deeply into his dad’s eyes as if to say, “You are.”
At 34 years old, I lost it in the theater. I told Scotty he needed to quit buying the popcorn with so many onions in it. I felt exactly the same way as Homer in that moment. Six years earlier I’d left the family business to pursue God’s call on my life, and both Dad and I had to let go of some dreams.
I’ve been privileged to know a lot of great men who’ve had a huge impact on me. I’m looking at my home office wall right now that has 21 autographed pictures from people I truly admire. But in the center of those three rows of seven pictures is a man named Steady Cash.
He’s my dad.
He’s my truest hero.
Here’s a reward for reading down to the bottom, but PLEASE… only watch this scene if you have not watched the movie. Plus, the movie is only $7.99 on Apple and Amazon Prime right now. Plus, if you buy it right after reading this, they will send me the sum total of $0.00 as a referral fee. Now, here’s the scene of Homer and his dad that I referenced above:
