A quiet power couple.

Remember the post about failure? About Failing Forward?

My husband and I have been talking a lot about a certain couple – a quiet couple.  They experienced a lot of failure in their life.  They were slammed by the media.  He didn’t receive full recognition for his research till after his death.

Here’s a little bit from Robert’s blog about the Goddards:

A 17-year old secretary meets a professor twenty years her senior. Filled with imagination and ingenuity, she finds this man intriguing.

Five years later they get married and become lifelong partners in pursing a dream – his dream – to send a rocket into space. They share the value of resoluteness – he for his work, and her for her husband.

He never fully realizes his dream and dies of throat cancer.

But thanks to the resolve of his wife, this man’s work is not forgotten and 131 of his 214 patents are secured posthumously through her efforts. Two of these patents are regarded as important milestones towards spaceflight.

As I said, we’ve been talking about this couple.  A lot.

Here’s how Goddard described the beginning of his passion for space flight:

On the afternoon of October 19, 1899, I climbed a tall cherry tree and, armed with a saw which I still have, and a hatchet, started to trim the dead limbs from the cherry tree.

It was one of the quiet, colorful afternoons of sheer beauty which we have in October in New England, and as I looked towards the fields at the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars.

I was a different boy when I descended the tree from when I ascended for existence at last seemed very purposive.

We read all the facts about their life, and the dates and details are stark.

He was ill – they lacked funding – then received support from Charles Lindbergh and funding from the Guggenheim family.  Of course, as soon as they set up house in Arizona and began experiments, the depression caused their backers to withdraw the offer.  They moved from the east coast to Arizona and back because of lack of funds – never knowing when his experiments could begin again.

When the Smithsonian published Robert Goddard’s first major paper, the media scoffed.  An editorial in the New York Times suggested he didn’t even understand Newton’s laws.  His theories about “thrust” being possible in a vacuum, were dismissed.

What was Goddard’s response?

Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace.

49 years later The Times issued a correction – one day after the Apollo 11 launch.

Esther & Robert Goddard never gave up.

They didn’t give in.  They never stopped.  They carried on.

Even after Robert Goddard’s death, Esther continued to go through his notes, arranging them, and appearing in court fighting on his behalf because the government infringed on many of his patents.  The government settled.

Gradually eliminate difficulties – success will follow.

Here’s another quote from Goddard:

My husband and I are no different than any other couple.  We have many areas we’re growing in – searching for solutions.  We’re determined not to give up.

Be resolute – don’t give up.

Whatever struggles you and your spouse are working through – don’t give up!  Take a page from Robert Goddard’s life and become successful after gradually eliminating the difficulties.

Significant change is a steady climb.

Fail forward!