I was going to show Bella but pretty much everyone’s seen her. And if I talked about one niece or nephew, I’d have to talk about all 5 of them, and then I’d never shut up and end up losing all my subscribers. So I picked my dad, and as today’s his birthday (75!!!), I thought this would be a good day to show him off!!!
My dad, Bob, was born on a farm in Southeast Kansas during the depression and has one older sister and one younger sister. His grandparents lost their farm when he was 6 years old, so his father packed up his farm machinery and went to work for other farmers in eastern Kansas, moving almost every year (that’s the way it was done back then). He learned the meaning of hard work the hard way—by necessity; farming during the depression and the dust bowl was NOT easy. By the summer before he was a senior in high school (1948), my dad had saved enough money to help his parent make a down payment on their own farm.
He worked his way through college (Kansas State, of course), where he met my mom. He graduated in January of 1954, joined the army, married my mom, and, in 1956, went to work for the Soil Conservation Service of the USDA. In 1963(?), he took a course in computer programming at Purdue University (Indiana) and so excelled in it that he was asked to help teach the class the next semester.
He retired from the SCS in 1988 as the assistant director of engineering (of the whole shebang). Since then he has operated a very successful consulting business, working mainly with surveying programs and equipment. When he’s not working (or taking a nap in front of the TV), he can be found on his computer, at his blacksmith forge, on his tractor, cutting wood, putting a new roof on his house, cracking (and eating) black walnuts, working in his garden, or spending time with one of his 6 kids or 5 grandkids. This weekend, he’ll be spending time with ME!!!
NOW, aren’t you glad I didn’t talk about ALL my nieces and nephews!!!
