Possibly My Toughest Jobs? Some Working for My Dad?

My toughest tasks? Possibly they were some jobs working for my dad.

One day as we worked outside, I complained about mosquitoes biting. He said, “If you’d work harder, you’d sweat, and you could drown them in your sweat.”

As a boy, one day he instructed me to pick up a certain number of rocks out of the yard. I did so quickly. He then told me, "you got that done so fast, do" a certain number more. He changed the job requirement during the job. That was discouraging.

Dad was a mining engineer and land surveyor. One day as I was helping him with a survey, I grabbed a container of cold water from his vehicle to take with us hiking up to the job site. He ordered me leave the water there, stating it was unnecessary weight.

I told him I could carry the water. He replied, "in that case you can carry a few more wooden stakes." He put the water back and handled me more stakes. He said his dad (who was also a mining engineer and surveyor) had told him something similar when he was a boy helping his dad.

On one job, when I stated I was thirsty, he commented, “you should have gotten a drink of water before you left” for the job. I told him that I did, but that was hours ago. He replied, “you should have drunk more. I did and I’m not thirsty.”

Doing household repair work, he would sometimes ask me to fetch a particular tool by saying something like, “Go over yonder and bring me my whatchamacallit.” I did not know where over yonder was, nor did I know what his whatchamacallit was. I told him that. He responded by pointing and stating, “That thing right over there.” This still wasn’t adequate direction for me. Often he had to get the tool himself.  

I helped dad over the years with many necessary jobs at our house. These included plumbing, electrical work, installing insulation, roofing, assembling a metal outbuilding, yard work, surveying, laying linoleum, and numerous other tasks.

Once he had me doing some type of guttering or roofing work. He said he’d hold the ladder. After a while I felt the ladder lean. I looked down. Dad was leaning on the ladder. I told him to hold the ladder, not to lean on it. 

The photo below is of dad on a day we were working together to unload a load of coal into the coal storage house at his home in Jenkins, Kentucky. That was probably one of our last jobs working together.

Some of My Dad's Successes and More Photos of Him

Lest you think otherwise, my dad was a wonderful, loving, caring man. He achieved much and did much for many, including me. He donated generously to charity and did a significant amount of  volunteer work.

I’m grateful to God for making William Edwin Gibson my dad. He taught me to drive a car, ride a bicycle without training wheels, the importance of looking up answers in books when one didn’t know the answer, etc. We actually accomplished much during our working together, despite my clumsiness and inabilities.

He was a professional engineer and land surveyor, and he held offices at the state level in the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers. He worked hard to provide for his family. During one period he worked many double shifts, working days as a mining engineer and evenings as a section foreman  in one of the company’s mines.

Below are more photos of my dad.

Dad during his college days at VPI.

Dad standing at Sky Bridge in Kentucky's Red River Gorge area in 1967 on a family trip. 

Dad opening a Christmas gift in 1981.

Dad standing in the dining room of his home in Jenkins, Kentucky in 1990.

Dad standing in 2004 near the future site of an amphitheater in Jenkins, Kentucky.

My dad loved and provided well for his family. We never went hungry or lacked for any necessities.

Dad's Final Years

In my dad's latter years he was baptized, became a deacon and treasurer in his church, and treasurer of the church’s county conference as well. 

I rented a car about four times a year to visit him, and I phoned dad at least weekly, often a few times weekly, during his final years. My last visit was a week before he passed on; my last phone conversation hours before he passed on.

We closed each conversation stating our love for one another. Dad passed on to heaven on April 27^th, 2013. I’d love to be able to work with him on another job of some type. I look forward to a heavenly reunion.

If you'd like to read more about my dad and see more pictures of him, you can read my 2020 Google Blogger article "Happy Father's Day."

NOTE: Since my memory isn’t perfect, the quotes of my dad’s words should be considered paraphrases. But I tried to quote exactly to the best of my memory.