Swing the Fly Issue 2.4 Spring 2015 | Page 51

Steve Turner Photo

UK Customs and Immigration, Glasgow International Airport, Scotland.

July 15, 2001

"Next!"

Mike Dixon rolled up to the immigration agent and greeted him with a sincere, but very American, "How ya doin?"

"Passport please."

He handed the decidedly un-friendly customs agent his US passport. As the agent opened it, a small card dropped out and slid across the counter. It was a quote that his father Stan had inserted into the blank pages of Mike's passport the night he left Grants Pass.

 

Mike,

Congratulations on your graduation from West Point. This is a good quote:

 

To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things — machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man’s work — his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women men love and many children; to see and to take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed….Henry Luce 1936

 

From Dad

PS. Learning does not stop. Have fun fishing and let me know what you see out there.

 

“8 weeks.”

"Do you have a return ticket?"

“Yes.”

"Well then, good luck with your fishing and welcome to Scotland."