“The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one’s country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.”
~Primo Levi
(My father and my niece)
This week of March began with, of all things, an ending. After 44 grueling years, my dad retired from his place of employment. We trekked off this [past weekend to Nebraska to attend his retirement ceremony. A new chapter in his life, and in ours, has begun.
I say “grueling”, because that is what his job was. For four plus decades my dad was a welder, welding the steel joist you see when you looked up at the exposed roofing in a place like Wal-mart. It was a hot, monotonous, body-breaking job…and continues to be so for those who go in 5 or more days a week working in temperatures that are hot in the winter, unbearably so in the summer. In the grand scheme of the world it is perhaps a thankless job. But not for us, his family. His wife and children and our spouses and children (my dad’s grandchildren).
His was the kind of dedication and sacrifice that is not necessarily characteristic of today’s labor force and it provided us with the safety and security that we always enjoyed. We were never exorbitantly wealthy, but we were never poor either. At least we were not in our eyes. We always had more than enough to wear, more than enough toys, a nice place to live. We had a really good childhood, and through my dad’s example we learned the value of hard work and of appreciating what you have.
And we were always proud of our dad. The ability to walk into a store and point to the ceiling and say, “My dad made those” was always a source of pride. I work in an office setting. It was nearly impossible to explain to my child when she was growing up what I did for a living. She would try to tell her friends but it was just too difficult to do well. I had it easy. I could pridefully point out that my dad did something important, that his contribution to society made it possible for structures all over the nation to exist.
(A scale model representation of what my dad made. In addition, he made these small joist for all of the other guys who retired and made several more before leaving for future retirees)
I am not sure my dad felt that his job was important. He may have, I won’t speak for him. I imagine it may be hard to feel like your work is important when the conditions you work in are so miserable and when the work takes such a physical toll on your body. But his work always has been important. It literally gave life to my brother and my sister and me. It allowed our mother to stay at home during our childhood years, giving us the benefit of a constant parental presence. His job provided us with a nice house in an area that allowed us to truly be kids and enjoy all that childhood had to offer. My 40 years are filled with an abundance of memories built upon the foundation of my dad’s commitment to his job. And I can say, with no fear of contradiction, that he didn’t do this for all these years because it was fun. He did it because of his love for his family.
And so a chapter has ended in the life of our family. And as I mentioned in the beginning, a new one is about to start. Over the years all three of us have moved away from Nebraska. My sister and her husband, my brother and his wife, and my wife and I (and all of our respective children) all live in and around the Kansas City, Missouri area. My parents recently purchased a house here and they will be moving here within the next few weeks. It is going to be fun to be a more regular part of each other’s lives again. I moved away from home, to Tulsa, OK, to go to college, and other than summer time during my first year of college, I have not lived in the same town with my parents for twenty years. Our relationship has been made up of phone calls and occasional visits. Although my parents will not be living next door or anything, it will still be nice to be able to see them for their birthdays, to make plans to do things together, to get together on the odd weekend for Sunday dinners.
(We got a watch with the verse number of the opening scripture etched on the back. We wrapped it in this box covered with family pictures.)
Although this chapter in their lives have ended, neither of my parents will be spending their retirement rocking on the porch. Due to what this wonderful economy has done to their lifetime of retirement savings and investments, they will both have to do some sort of part time work at some point. And they have a new house with many projects to keep them occupied. In addition, my father will continue to build wonderful pieces of furniture and other things. He is a very creative person. Many of the things in my home have been built by him and I look forward to seeing what his future creative endeavors will produce.
In light of the recent post about taking comfort, I felt it was important to post this today. Family is so very important as a support structure for making it through this life. And I wanted to honor my father in this way. To tell him how eternally grateful I am for what he has done for me and for my family. I love you so very much, dad, and what you have done for all of us is not unappreciated in any way. We are all very proud of you and the example you’ve been. And in spite of a tough and wearying profession, you managed to be there for us and be a real dad. We cannot thank you enough. I cannot thank you enough.
This past Christmas my father presented a gift to each of our families. It was a framed portrait that had been taken not long ago of he and his fellow lineman doing what they do everyday. Aesthetically it is one amazing picture. I love the composition and the colors. It has a bit of that machine-works/steampunk feel that made me want to rush right home and hang it in my office. Additionally though, it is a bittersweet reminder of just what my dad went through every day. It certainly made the tears well up when I first saw it and has on numerous occasions since. It is a great gift to have such a cool reminder of my father’s sacrifice.
(Click on image for a larger version)
Thanks again, dad.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
What a wonderful tribute to your father. I love that photo you posted at the end. Wow!
I think your Dad will be proud of YOU once he reads such a wonderfully written tribute. My father was a policeman for over thirty years and I too am so proud of the contribution he made to our society. Dads are so cool!
What an awesome post!! I think it’s great that your family will be close together again. It sounds like you get along wonderfully!
I can tell the way you write that your Dad is a special guy. And I’m sure he is as proud of you as you are of him!
I came here looking for a retirement post!
Congrats, Jim! Your story is extraordinary. You served your family in an amazing way. I’m glad you are moving to our area. God Bless!
color me envious..
my mome was divorced when I was but a few months old and I never met my “dad”..
color me envious..
when they move close by.. don’t wait for holidays or birthdays ..every day is a special day.
Carl, what an awesome tribute to your Dad and all the hard work and sacrifice he has done to take care of his family. I enjoyed all your pictures and thoughts. Thanks for sharing his special retirement day with us!
How nice it will be to have them closer!!
What a wonderful tribute to your dad! Congrats to him on his retirement!
What a wonderful post!
Oh Carl, this is such a beautiful post! The tears are flowing freely right now. Literally. I swear you were almost telling my own dad’s story. Our family stories sound much the same. And my Dad just retired a couple years ago after 45 years working for the same company as a tool and die machinist. It wasn’t easy work, and he has severe hearing loss from it, and there were times when they went on strike. But we always had food, and a home, and enough to never think we were poor. And the part about being able to “see” what he did…I can so relate to that too, as my dad would point out the aircraft types that he built parts for, etc. The day he retired has to rank right up there with the happiest days of my life. He was stressed so much of the time…the day he retired was almost like a rebirth for him. Not that he was ever a mean person or anything, but he’s been so much more fun to be around since his retirement.
I hope you all are able to spend oodles and oodles of time together now! Thanks for sharing your Dad’s story, Carl!
Crap…I’m still crying.
Congrats to your Dad on his retirement 🙂 You guys look so much alike!
What a great post Carl!! Congrats to your Dad!! That’s great that your families will all be so close again. What a wonderful tribute =)
Congratulations to your Dad!! What a lovely post.
How wonderful for your Dad to be able to read this glowing tribute to him. It is nice that he can see how loved he is and that you are so looking forward to having them in your space again. You are blessed.
What a beautiful tribute to your father Carl! Send him a pat on the back and a congratulations from me…his retirement is certainly well deserved! I feel for people retiring right now with the economy. It’s ashame that he’ll have to spend his retirement years working a part time job. But hopefully he can find something that doesn’t feel like work to him. May your mother and father both enjoy these years!
You wrote a beautiful post honoring your dad. Thank you for sharing. Congratulations to your dad on his retirement.
Jim, congratulations on your retirement!
I look forward to getting to visit with you more in the coming months and years.
Your hard work and dedication to your craft is inspiring to say the least.
Congrats to your dad on his retirement! You two do look very much alike 🙂
A wonderful post that brought a lump to my throat. Congratulations to your father on his retirement; may it be a long and happy one.
Fantastic and moving tribute to your father. And great photos. 🙂
I know I don’t need to tell you to treasure him while he’s still with you _ that shines through in your post. 🙂
A beautiful post, Carl. I am sure your dad will think you couldn’t have given him a better gift. And congratulations to your dad. I hope he enjoys his much deserved retirement.
My grandfather was a sheet metal worker, and built huge buildings too. During the war, my grandma and my mom moved around the country with him so he could build the factories to support the war effort.
Such an incredible work ethic the past generations have modeled for us.
I love these kinds of stories.
How nice for your daughter to be able to spend more time with her grandparents! That is such a special relationship 🙂
Carl, I am deeply moved by the Scripture verses that you have moved in this beautiful tribute to your Dad. It reminds us all of the power we have in our lives to turn our jobs into sources of meaning, and ways to bless our Saviour as well as family and those we work with.
Your father is a handsome man, and my heart goes out to him as it does my own father, that after all their years of hard work they find their life savings far dwindled. I can only hope that their efforts will somehow be rewarded (financially or at least emotionally. My father is very distraught!).
We are blessed to have such men in our lives, who have themselves led lives of integrity and honor.
um, duh, I meant “verses that you have included in this beautiful tribute”….you’d think that a teacher would have the sense to proofread before publishing her comment!
Part of the wisdom of aging is appreciating things now that you took for granted as a kid. Like you I realize now that I was fortunate and privileged to live in a secure home with a solid family around me.
A fitting tribute to your father Carl, and your respect for him is a shining example to your daughter. I wish him well in his retirement.
We are so proud of you, Dad! I am so pleased that Carl and I were there for your special day.
Lovely post, Carl, and thank you so much for sharing with us your father, and what he did, and what you hope to have with him in the future. It is lovely to see healthy family relationships, and celebrating the milestones in life. thank you!
What a beautiful tribute to your father. Thank you for sharing it with us.
A Dad who can impart the value of hard work to his kids is a gift indeed. Well done, one hopes that one can do that for our kids… time will tell.
Dad doesn’t do computers,you know,so I am writing a big thank you from him to you! We both love all you kids so much and the tears are flowing as I write this. I copied this tribute and Dad and I will read thru it several times today as we are driving to bring another load to KC. The pictures are awesome and the scriptures are fitting and your writing is the best!! Thank you so much, Carl-we both love you more than you can imagine. Also thank you all for the “Best Wishes”.