Project Beginning

Today was the beginning of my basement project. I wished to build a wall unit in my basement museum but was unable to due to my surgery.With Father's Day on the weekend and my son unable to come to see us we decided to get together today. My son worked his early shift getting up at 2am and working to 10.30 am decided to come for a visit. He had dinner with us and we went to work.

There was a time when I directed him as my helper to become a very proficient worker around the house and in earlier times on our boat.Henry now directs me as I am amazed at the ability he shows in building skills. We set out today to just rip out the old wall unit and prepare the space for new construction.

I had all the material ready in case we did a little of the new work. On the hottest day of the year we went to the garage and set up for cutting materials and designing my unit. I had drafted plans for the construction but he helped to make changes that improved the design and we were off. During the next five hours we worked together sharing ideas and working with careful cuts with our power saws and ended by completing the first phase of the wall unit.

It is such a pleasure to work with Henry as he is cool and works quietly but with authority and we made progress for beyond what I expected. During our work together we had the usual father and son conversations but on a more equal level. I respect his ability and strength to carry out tasks that I no longer can do at this time in my life.

It always brings me back when I worked with my Dad and I remember the difficult and hard work of loading coal on weekends and helping with whatever jobs Dad took on. I learned many things about my Father when I worked with him and now as a senior citizen I realize the importance of working and demanding quality service when working with young people.We do no good service to our youth by not expecting them to contribute to family. Lessons learned from Mom and Dad are life lessons and stay with you all the days of your life.

My time with my children and grandchildren are precious times and I only hope that they value the work ethic and rewards one receives from honest efforts and a sense of pride from work. Today was just one of many with Henry and I am thankful for that privilege.