My passion for Purpose and Legacy Planning, or focusing on non-financial planning to empower, enable, and inspire loved ones, comes from my own story.

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My dad was described by historians, engineers, and academics as one of the most knowledgeable and precise builders of steam engines and steam locomotives in the world. He was sought after by organizations like the Smithsonian and Walt Disney Corporation to contribute to their collections and knowledge of steam engines. A space you may not realize has AVID fans, hungry students, and passionate hobbyists.

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With four children, you’d assume someone would inherit his fervor and ability to restore and operate his famous 1892 HK Porter Steam Locomotive, keeping it running around the track on his property for visitors from across the globe to see, ride, and study. Sadly, none of us are capable or have the steam engine bug required to do so. We inherited his curiosity and ambition, just not his love of historical steam engines.

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His legacy died with his passing. When he was alive, we didn’t develop plans: a Individual Legacy Plans or, a Family Legacy Plan. For my part, the guilt I had for years was intense. I wanted to love his train as he did, but I didn’t. I still feel sad at times that he might be disappointed thinking I didn’t care enough, which is not true. I simply didn’t have the same goals, purpose, and passions as my amazing dad, the respected and admired garage genius.

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The true heirlooms I would have like to inherit from my dad were his knowledge of metal construction, soldering, building, navigating, captaining, and engineering a boat in open waters, and more. But our family didn’t discuss things like that, not for any reason other than we didn’t stop living our own lives long enough to consider it.