To the Hardworking Men

This weekend I realized something about myself....that I appreciate hardworking men.

I've always known that I've appreciated men who work hard and can get things done for themselves. I guess I never appreciated how many of these men I have around me. I've grown up with nothing but men who live with this work ethic.

This whole realization came to me on Saturday as I was at the house with Josh. His dad came over and the two of them replaced the back sliding door. They didn't call in someone else to do the installation and labor, they did it themselves. And it's not the first time they've taken on such a project. Not that long ago the two of them remodeled our master bathroom. I admire that they go out their way and do it for themselves. They put in the time and effort and do it themselves. It takes skill and practice. They aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. In essence they can fend for themselves to fix problems.

And these two aren't the only examples of men I know like this. None of the men that come to mind in my life work at a job that has them sitting behind a desk all day. Instead they are on their feet, working with their hands to get the jobs done. My father for example, worked every day for 32 years, building cars. And even though he's retired, he is always doing odd jobs around the house, fixing things as they come or improving things where needed. He lives for the chance to fix or work on something, no matter what it is. I have uncles who have their own business, car repair and a roofing company. And they get in there and do the work themselves too, it's not just handing it off to the man lower on the totem pole. I have uncles who work with horses, being farriers and blacksmiths. I think of my grandfather who you can usually find in his shed, working on something or building something for someone.

Now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with a man who sits behind a desk for a living. But I do think that something has to be admired of the man who puts in the sweat and labor of getting their hands dirty working on cars, building something out of wood, slaving away in the heat to put on someone's roof.

I'm sure that none of the men I mentioned learned these skills over night. In fact, I'm sure it took multiple mistakes and a lot of trial-and-error. But they kept at it and the skills that they now possess can't be taken away from them.

The idea that when I have kids, they will have so many great examples of men who will be able to teach them things like this. The trades are much more important than many of us realize.