Hard Work

This isn't exactly a father/son project as much as a father/son story. When I was little my father was always outside working. On everything from cutting the yard to building a patio. He tackled everything around the house to help save some cash. He worked hard to save money to make sure there was always something available.

I saw this man always giving 100% in everything. Never once complaining about work. I think in some ways, for him, the harder the work the more rewarding the payoff was when the job was complete. His work ethics have been ingrained into me sheerly from watching the repetition.

When I was young, I had to make every step behind him as he cut the grass with my plastic toy lawn mower. I had to walk in his big rubber boots as he sprayed off the driveway. I had to carry a little hammer and try and help when he would let me...I had to be him.

Over those years, he and I did so many rememberable things. He would clear the dead trees off the property and cut it up for fire wood. I don't know how many ax handles I broke trying to help split wood. Or the time he decided we needed a basement and tried to dig a small shelter within the crawl-space. Probably not the best of the ideas but we had a great time trying. And as a kid finding massive boulders under the house and pulling them out with a riding lawn mower seemed very adventurous. Then there was the time when he wanted to build a real basement (since the first attempt wasn't completed) and a sunroom. We had to remove a brick patio and we tried to save all the bricks used from the original construction. He and I would hand clean off the original mortar with a hammer and chisel. Not a fast process but it gave us lots of time together.

The list of projects and memories I have from growing up goes on forever. The point is that my father was a hero. Not in the literal since (even though he was a fireman and saved lives on a regular basis). But he was a man that worked hard and showed me how to be the man I am today. Seeing those ethics everyday makes me want to show my son how to live. Those work traits will carry a person far in life. Applying those ethics at work and home can accomplish anything...And the greatest thing is that you will have memories that can't be replaced.

I want to thank you dad (J.W. Simmons, Jr.) for being the kind of man you are. Your hard work has not only showed me how to live but how to raise my own son. I love you.