Working For A Living

When I got pregnant, Harm went to work for Cadillac for the insurance. It wasn’t what he wanted to do. He also sold Cutco Cutlery as a sideline for a few extra bucks. Sold two sets, one to his mother and the other to Donna. I still use my set we had to buy as a sample. Funny, I was going to list it on eBay a couple of weeks ago. Traci and Janka both protested. Each offered to pay me NOT to sell it. It was pretty funny. So, I’m holding on to it so they can inherit it! Janka has dibs on the potato masher. They’ll have to fight over the rest of it. Hey, I guess Cutco is pretty cool to their
generation. And mine comes with memories. (big smile)
Harm wanted to be a Tool & Die Maker. He’d dropped out of school at sixteen. But he was determined. I remember one day he told me, “I’m going to find a job.” He picked up the big fat Detroit Yellow Pages book, looked up tool & die shops, starting at “A”, he called every shop in the book, looking for a chance. He got as far as “D”, where he found DieMaster Tooling and a great guy who was willing to give him a chance. I was so proud of him. Only nineteen years old, a new father and husband. Smart enough to go out and get what he wanted. Taking a chance at finding a career he was interested in. Not everybody could be bothered to do that.
He ended up working there until, literally, the day he died. They were so good to him. Even when work was slow, they kept him on, painting machines and floors and anything else they could justify having him do. He made a good choice moving on to the “Ds” that day.
Oh, and he decided to get his GED. He was going to night school a couple of nights a week and was nearly finished. nearly.
p.s. I just remembered something pretty neat. Harm’s friend, and mine, Robert aka Bird, was going to school with him. He returned his books for me and with the deposit, bought me a copy of James Taylor’s “You’ve Got A Friend.” He knew that was Harm’s and my song. I still smile and say a silent “bless you” every time I hear James singing that one.