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Lost Job of Bob - Yard work for a former teacher
This entry was posted on 12/29/2010 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
A small forgotten task, a lost job, call it what you will, one such old memory popped into my head not long ago. And here I thought I had finally remembered just about every side road I have taken in my job history. In retrospect, there is some interesting connections in some small tasks. It was the spring after I had gotten out of the Army. The girlfriend I dated at the time hooked me up with a former high school teacher we both had classes with. Said teacher by then retired, needed some yard work done. Also, my girl friend's mom was friends with the yard work needing former teacher.
The yard work needing teacher's husband had died long ago. He was a university professor and taught at the local college. I remember our teacher talking about him during her literature class in high school. He had been in England during World War II and during the air bombing (The Blitz) of London by the Nazis. I was taken by her thoughtful memory of her husband.
Decades later as an old guy, I would take college classed in the building at UW-Whitewater the husband had taught in. There is still a thoughtful memorial in the lobby of Heide Hall to his efforts. As universities go, I am surprised the old structure has not been torn down to make way for the ubiquitous rebuilding done in academic culture - this as always despite any at-large economic angst - but I digress.
Old Uncle Art could no longer drive his 1966 Ford farm truck and my dad had charge of the keys. "Use Art's truck," he said.
"Will he mind?" I asked.
"He does not have much say in such matters anymore," Dad replied.
That was how the two brothers always interacted. Dad considered Art should be glad in his old age that he could still live basically for free on our farm - his tiny mobile home sat inconspicuously next to the work shed. The paint was faded and the trees hung down on its top. My mom would bring him his groceries.
So off I went in the old truck to prepare my former teacher's yard for the growing season, spring, and summer. As I remember it, I tinkered away at the task for a couple hours or so per day for about a week. It did not look like she had any work done for a while. The trees, shrubs, gutters, and leaves were all in need of attention and had obviously been neglected for a few seasons.
How poetic it was later on down the road when I actually did variations of that kind of work professionally for a dozen years. But something else has come to mind now long after the fact. Some of my former customers in the landscape business would ask me in for coffee after the task at hand was done. No matter how busy I and my crew were I always obliged. My former teacher had asked if I would please sit and have a beer after the project was finally finished.
At the time she had the beginnings of cancer and as I recall she had no children. Even then I had the foresight to realize it may be the last time I might ever see her. She lit a cigarette, chatted a bit, popped open a beer for herself, and I had a couple of beers. And, she gently nudged the conversation to my military experience.
And this is the caveat. I am thinking now so many decades later, she was humbly patriotic, with her husband's experience in London and all. In retrospect, in the bad economy of the time, it was her way of giving me a nod for my service to the country. She gave me something to do besides preoccupy myself with my dead end shool bus driving job at the time and hitting the bars before noon.
I hope she finally met up with her husband she always talked about so fondly; and, I hope she is now with him and with what ever god she found helpful in life.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Marine Corporal Matthew Ross Zindars, 21, Watertown, Wisconsin, died on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 in Diyala province, Iraq. He was serving in Battery K, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, California. Zindars was one of three Marines killed in the combat operation when the Humvee he was in was struck by a roadside bomb. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Matthew was very active in watercraft, snowboarding, rock climbing, and camping. He enlisted during his senior year in high school. The Journal Sentinel quoted Matthew's father as saying his son discussed attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to study journalism after his military obligation. Zindars had volunteered for his second tour in Iraq in which his death occurred. He was born on September 12, 1985. In his youth Matthew was a member of the Lutheran Boy Pioneers and he attended Trinity-St. Luke's Lutheran School. He played football at Watertown High School, and graduated in 2004. Zindars entered the Marines in October 2004, and first deployed to Iraq with an artillery unit in March 2005. The Watertown Daily Times noted Zindar's Marine unit's job on his second Iraq tour was to perform security operations and clear explosives from roadways. He was due to return home in October 2007. The Watertown paper also quoted a friend of Matthew's as saying Zindars liked lifting weights in his teens. He had joined the Marines at 18 years old while still in high school. He was also a two-year member of American Legion Post 189. Wisconsin 2007 Senate Joint Resolution 79 states that at the time of his death Corporal Matthew Zindars was survived by mother Lynn Zindars; father Kenneth Zindars; sisters Tracy Kempf−Reichardt and Jennifer Kempf−Wilson; and brother, Mark Zindars. Matthew was preceded in death by brother Jason. Corporal Matthew Zindars was the 78th Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since March of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
99,171 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,811 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,433 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1442 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
833 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,001 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,828 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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