The Lumber Yard

I started my first job when I was 15. I'm from a very small town in the country and I lived within a mile of a lumber yard. One of my friends worked there right before I decided to try my hand as a lumber jack and he told me it was hard work but there were moments that it was the best job he could ever want. I wound up getting the job and experiencing what my friend had talked about, along with the difficulties he hadn't mentioned.

I started working in that yard after school from 4-7 everyday and on the weekends. While I worked there my friend William and I both got injured a few times, he more than I because he was either a harder worker than me or just stupid. Broken bones, passing out from heat, frost bite, bloody shins, massive splinters, fire ant bites, wood chips in your eyes, burns from the diesel engine, ears bleeding from really bad country music that our boss used to play, and experiementing with broom handles.

Besides the work though there was friendship. William and I were already friends before I started but once I became and employee of the yard I met one of the most important people in my life. His name was Bob Snyder and he owned that yard for decades. Worked in rain, snow, and blistering heat for his entire life. I've never met anyone that has worked as hard and honestly as he had.

Bob's dead now. Killed in a car accident on his way to breakfast, or a delivery, I dont know yet. The funeral's Monday. He survived the accident but succumed to the wounds from being impaled through the face.

Bob wasn't much to mince words. He told you how it was and you listened. Not because of the whole listening to your elders shit, but because he lived his life the way he spoke. There wasnt any bullshit. He woke up everyday and worked. Didnt talk much just did what needed to be done.

So when the time came that I was moving on to my next job, I think it was Walmart or the machining factory I cant keep my jobs straight anymore, Bob told me one thing. The lumber business isnt for everyone so go out and find what your lifes work will be. Now when a man you respect says something like that to you, you not only listen, you act. I worked a lot of dead end jobs to get to where I am now and I've made a lot of mistakes, but it was all part of the ride of trying to figure out how I wanted to craft my life. What Bob said to me the day I quit working for him still echos in the decisions I make today and the decisions I'll make later down the road.

When I went back to my hometown last I got my little brother a job working for Bob. My brother didnt stay long, he left for another gig so I filled in for a few days while Bob got a new laborer. I talked with him at that point about the progress of things and he acted as if he new what I would turn out to be all along. This humble, hard working, and honest man said that I needed to focus on what I loved because we all have a limited time here. Dont waste time.

Dont waste time.

http://www.geiple.com/book-of-memories/1583046/Snyder-Robert/obituary.php


Love ya Bobby.