was born and raised in a small town on a farm. To do the job right the first time was important because you just didn’t have time to do it any other way. Since we had the farm, we didn’t have to go on relief during the depression. We had our own cows, our own pigs, and our own horses. We didn’t have electricity; we didn’t have a tractor. We did everything by hand. We were self-sufficient.

We all had jobs according to our age groups. I was out picking berries when I was five years old. I’d come home with fresh berries and Ma cleaned them and you had them on your pancakes. So, if we didn’t do it, then who would do it?

The reason I’m still here, still working is because of that particular thrill, that satisfaction that I get. I think that work is good for you physically, mentally, and spiritually. I think we are put here to do something. You just can’t sit around and do nothing. Character has a lot to do with everything really: your work, your family, and your ethics, your everything. If you have good character, then you are a good person.

You have to have morals. Everybody’s got their thing to do and it meshes together. If you haven’t any real values or morals, then your work ethic isn’t going to be any good either. Things are going to be less than what they should be, or less than you expect them to be. You’re going to do things right because your conscience tells you to do the job right. If you don’t, you’re not going to feel good about it.

I’ve always loved what I was doing, even those tasks that I didn’t like. The profit is in getting the community to trust you, to depend on you. Ya, I like working. I enjoy it, I like what I do and I have enough now that I can go out and there’re still challenges all the time, and that’s what I enjoy the most.

Stories from the Field