No, this blog entry is not about my upcoming retirement (that is way too distant in the future to write about). My dad will recognize this picture instantly, he used to work here. My dad has always been a hard worker. When he was younger, his aunt got him a job at Interstate Motor Lines where dad worked as a dispatcher or a clerk ( I really should ask him what he did) for a lot of years. Even after Dad started working at the post office, he kept working at the freight lines.
For much of that time, our family only had one car and that meant that when it was time for dad to come at 10:00 or 11:00 at night, my mom had to bundle all the sleeping, or half asleep kids into the car to go get Daddy. Most of the time I waited in the car for my dad, but a few times I got to go into my dad's world of work. I remember big burly guys and husky voiced women and the smell of cigarette smoke. I remember thinking "Why does a trucking company need to have all these file cabinets and paper?" I suppose I expected to find the place strewn with diesel engine parts. I always thought my dad seemed a little out of place here, but he probably fit right in. It was a totally different place for my dad to be seen.
Ironically, IML is being torn down to make way for a new Auxiliary Service Facility for the U.S. Postal Service. My dad left IML for the post office and now it seems the old building is going to follow him. I am thankful that my hard working dad taught me how to work. As I look at the lives of my children, I see that ethic has passed from me to them. My life has been blessed because of the lessons I learned from watching my dad. I am sure that he didn't realize he was even teaching me a lesson at all. He was just doing what he needed to do to support his family. He certainly didn't realize that his work would bless the lives of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.I have learned that in life, there is almost always a payback. It may not come right away, in fact, it almost never does, but when it does come we should rejoice in the moment.
