Jack Smith, in this morning's WaPo, offers Flashlight-Holding 101: A Father's Teaching Tools has a nice tribute to his dad:
My father's method of imparting advice wasn't direct or even obvious, but in his own way Dad made sure he passed on the guidance that would help me through life. He was a tinkerer and I was his young apprentice.One of my earliest memories was helping him fix our blue '51 Dodge Coronet. I was 5 or 6 years old and it was very cold and very dark. Dad was bent over the engine trying to change a particularly stubborn spark plug. My job was to keep the flashlight aimed exactly where he was struggling.
I was mostly thinking about anything but the work at hand. As my mind wandered, so did the beam of light. Every few minutes Dad would remind me, "Jack . . . the problem is here," as he tapped the wrench on the engine. "Shine the light where I'm looking, not where you're looking! Your job is to make my job easier."
Read and give thanks.
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