I grew up in a family with Dad, Mom, sister, me, two brothers. My Dad worked hard in his printing business and Mom worked hard as a homemaker and Mother. Us kids were well brought up, knowing that we had parents that loved us and each other. In the 50's in America, I didn't think that it was an unusual thing. Actually, I never gave it a thought as we grew up in a loving home, where Dad provided us a nice home, enough food to eat and enough cloths to keep us warm in the winter (which in Minnesota is difficult at times) and cool in the summer. We didn't have air conditioning in either our home or the car, so we didn't know there was such a thing for a long, long time. Every once in a while we would go visit a school friend of Mom and Dad that lived a harsher life than we had. It was not shocking to us, I don't think, because Mom and Dad were interested in their friendship and now looking back on it, that seemed to be something that "just was". We were taught values such as friendship and what that entailed. We were taught respect and how to act, speak and listen, respectfully. We were taught to appreciate what we had, and that there were others that had more material things, and there were many that didn't have as much as we were blessed with. We were taught to take care of animals (sister Suzanne won a golden Cocker Spaniel on a TV kids show). Goldie was wonderful! She is most likely the reason I love animals today.
Dad had a printing business that was primarily a one man shop until I got old enough to start learning to do things around the shop. My sister Suzanne started working at the shop in the office and over time, my brothers, Uncle and wife Pat, worked with Dad. I think I must have been, at times, a very difficult apprentice, as being left handed in a ambidextrous trade, created several challenges for him. First, being left handed, I had to learn that my right hand was there for a purpose other than to dangle at my side. When I started in the trade, we had hand set type. That means the individual letters (made of lead, tin and antimony metal) were picked out of the type case one letter at a time and put in a device was a small hand-held tray held in the left hand called a "composition stick". The letters were picked up and put in the "stick" with the right hand. The "stick" was held in such a way with the left hand that the left thumb was holding the type from falling over (or out). When the line of type was completed, it was put in a bigger tray and the form or whatever was being "built" was added to. When finished it was taken to a large flat metal table, what was called a Stone. In the early days it actually WAS a stone: flat and even piece of slab used to make up a form or printed piece to be prepared to be inserted into a printing press. To make a boring story shorter, this required the use of BOTH hands—equally. Dad was a very patient person, and I think I must have stretched that trait to the limit. As I progressed in my understanding of the trade, I was allowed to operated the hand feed printing press. That again required both hands as the press was made up of many moving parts and as the operator, needed to coordinate the hand movements 1. pick up blank paper or card stock from a shelf on the press and position it on the platen of the press that has opened up in front of you with your right hand. 2. As you are doing that, your left hand is removing the previously printed piece from the platen. There is a choreographed event happening here, that if well done, you get to keep your hands and fingers from getting caught in the press as it closes together to print the paper just inserted. Sounds dangerous doesn't it? It WAS! It is a printers life. Always a balance between the machine and the operator. There are power paper cutters, small to ultra large printing presses, bindery equipment that has all those pesky moving parts, rollers, joggers, etc. all moving, all the time.
Dad did a remarkable job teaching me the trade. He instilled craftsmanship, quality to the nth degree, pride in our work, even if it was just a sheet with lines on it. It WOULD be straight, dark ink, no variance in quality from the first sheet to the last. Number of sheets consistent, and as perfect as humanly possible. Dad's shop was well known for quality printing. That was in the days before all these copiers that are so readily available now. It was a small neighborhood (not downtown) print shop that had four or five major customer businesses and that kept Dad busy 12 to 16 hours a day, five and a half days a week. When we were young we loved to go to work with Dad on Saturday because it was the one day he would go to the Dixie Creme Donut Shoppe for a mid morning break. Sometimes we would have lunch at "Matts Riverview Cafe" and go home from there. Sundays was church in the morning, and family together in the afternoon.
Dad's training of a trade and of values of work, lead me to a quality of life that I was able to pass on to my kids and now them with their children. Because of Mom and Dad's parenting, my bothers and sister are raising their children with those same values. We were very fortunate. As I have been going through life and experiencing many WONDERFUL things, I have discovered that there are many families that are drastically different than the one we were brought up in. There are families that don't take the time to train their children the proper value system of love, care, responsibility-both personal and family, and the importance of education. I am not a college degreed person. I have some college credits, but that was attained later in my life, but no degree...as it wasn't important at the later part of my work career.
Just as I learned how to take care of my Dad's printing presses and other equipment, I was also learning how to treat people with the same respect as I was taught how to take care of that machinery. Keep the machinery well maintained and it will last longer and preform better. Keep those that you love (your FAMILY) and hold dear to your heart, well fed with that love and physical nourishment, clothes on their back, shelter over their head, train them as you have been trained, they will be a blessing to you and you will be rewarded greatly. The comfort that I have knowing that my wife loves me and my children respect me, because of what I have provided and shown them. In return my life is complete and I am at rest, knowing that even though mistakes have been made along the way, as ALL of us have, the training of my parents has been fruitful and success has been achieved. Thank you Mom and Dad.
Would I do anything different if given the chance for a "do over"? There are a couple things, perhaps that I would have done differently, but I can't go back, although I would give almost anything to go back and rethink it. That is not possible though. What I have learned though is: Don't be hasty in your decisions....think about them first...then move forward.
First and foremost: LOVE GOD, love your family, love your Country, then yourself.
Enough for now.
Keep singing, keep smiling, keep laughing
Blessings,
Gary
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